






















































































































0 






\ 

















































1371 



V- - a . t • , ' ' ^ ' ''' V ' 

Issued October 3,1911. 

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS—BULLETIN 240. 

A. C. TRUE, Director. 


TIDAL MARSHES AND THEIR 

RECLAMATION. 


BY 

GEORGE M. WARREN, . 

. Drainage Engineer. 


PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 

C. G. ELLIOTT, 


Chief of Drainage Investigations 



WASHINGTON : 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1911. 


Monograph 















I 


1371 


Issued October 3, 1911. 

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS—BULLETIN 240. 

A. C. TRUE, Director. 


TIDAL MARSHES AND THEIR 

RECLAMATION. 3 7 j 



BY 


GEORGE M. WARREN, 

Drainage Engineer. 


PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 


C. G. ELLIOTT, 

Chief of Drainage Investigations 



WASHINGTON : 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1911. 














OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 


A. O. True, Director. 

E. W. Allen, Assistant Director. 


STAFF OF DRAINAGE INVESTIGATIONS. 


C. G. Elliott, Chief Drainage Engineer and Chief of Drainage Investigations. 

A. D. Morehouse, Office Engineer and Assistant Chief of Drainage Investi¬ 
gations. 


R. D. Marsden, Office Engineer. 

H. H. Barrows, Assistant Office Engineer. 

G. F. Pohlers, H. B. Artley, Draftsmen. 

H. S. Yohe, Senior Clerk. 


DRAINAGE ENGINEERS. 


S. II. McCrory, H. A. Kipp, F. F. Shafer, O. G. Baxter, G. M. Warren. 
D. L. Yarnell, J. Y. Phillips, F. G. Eason, C. W. OkEY. 

ASSISTANT DRAINAGE ENGINEERS. 


J. R. IIaswell, N. B. Wade, W. J. Schlick, A. G. Hall, C. W. Mengel. 


DRAINAGE ENGINEERS FOR IRRIGATED LANDS. 


R. A. Hart, D. G. Miller, W. W. Weir, S. W. Cooper, W. A. Kelly, W. N. 
Hall, W. G. Sloan. 

ENGINEERS AVAILABLE FOR SPECIAL WORK. 

S. M. Woodward, A. E. Morgan, C. F. Brown, L. L. Hidinger. 


[Bull. 240] 


( 2 ) 




ft 





LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 


U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

Office of Experiment Stations, 
Washington , D. C., February 28, 1911. 

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript upon 

Tidal Marshes and Their Reclamation," prepared by George M. 
Warren, drainage engineer, under the direction of C. G. Elliott, chief 
of drainage investigations. 

Mr. Warren has made a thorough study of the subject and has 
presented it in a comprehensive manner. His investigations are 
valuable and throw light on some of the heretofore obscure points 
connected with the profitable reclamation of tidal marshes. Actual 
field conditions have been critically examined and the deductions 
are based upon data secured upon the ground. Except as otherwise 
noted, all maps, plans, and diagrams were prepared by Mr. Warren 
and many of the photographs were taken by him. 

Among many who have kindly given of their time, furnished 
teams, or assisted in other ways thanks are hereby especially extended 
to Harry Hayward, director of the State Experiment Station, New¬ 
ark, Del.; William J. Beck, Delaware City, Del.; Oliver H. Tomlin¬ 
son, Dorchester, N. J.; D. Woodruff Boggs, civil engineer, Bricksboro, 
N. J.; Edward L. Gandy, Mauricetown, N. J.; Dr. Stephen Henry, 
Marshfield, Mass.; Prof. AY. F. Ganong, Smith College, Northampton, 
Mass.; L. D. Baker, jr., Wellfleet, Mass.; Whitman & Howard, civil 
engineers, Boston, Mass.; John F. Herbin, Wolfville, Nova- Scotia; 
Gustavus Bishop, Greenwich, Nova Scotia; AY. C. Milner, Halifax, 
Nova Scotia; Mayor J. M. Curry, Amherst, Nova Scotia; Thomas 
Estabrooks and William B. Fawcett, Sackville, New Brunswick; 
AATlliam B. Mackenzie, chief engineer of Intercolonial Railway of 
Canada, Moncton, New Brunswick. 

The growing scarcity of good upland farms and the rapidly in¬ 
creasing population and consequent demand for good trucking lands 
near the large cities, particularly on the Atlantic coast, make the 
reclamation of tidal lands an increasingly important subject. 

I therefore recommend that this manuscript be published as Bulle¬ 
tin No. 240 of this office. 

Respectfully, A. C. True, 

Director. 


Hon. James AAulson, 

Secretary of Agriculture. 
[Bull. 240] (3) 





























































. 


























CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Introduction. 9 

Definition of terms. n 

Field work. n 

Tides. 11 

Marshes. 

Descriptions of the four reclamations investigated. 19 

Marsh land near Delaware City, New Castle County, Del. 19 

History and description... 19 

Tides. 19 

Soil and subsoil. 19 

Levee. 21 

Sluice. 22 

Ditches. 24 

Rainfall and ground water. 25 

Anthrax. 26 

Crops. 27 

Financial. 27 

Summary. 29 

Marsh lands on St. Georges Creek, New Castle County, Del. 30 

History and description. 30 

Levee. 31 

Sluice. 32 

Ditches. 33 

Crops. 33 

Financial. 33 

Summary. 34 

Marsh lands near Dorchester, Cumberland County, N. J. 34 

History and description. 34 

Tides. 35 

Soil and subsoil. 36 

Levee. 37 

Sluices. 38 

Ditches. 39 

Rainfall and ground water. 41 

Crops and their value. 43 

Value of lands. 45 

Summary. 46 

Marsh land near Mauricetown, Cumberland County, N. J. 47 

History and description. 47 

Soil and subsoil. 47 

Levee. 48 

Sluices. 49 

Ditches. 50 

Crops. 51 

[Bull. 240] 


(5) 















































6 


Descriptions of the four reclamations investigated—Continued. 

Marsh land near Mauricetown, Cumberland County, N. J.—Cont’d. Page. 

Value of lands. 52 

Actual cost. 52 

Summary. 53 

Bench marks. 53 

General summary and discussion. 53 

Sluices. 53 

Levees. 55 

Ditches. 55 

Soil. 55 

Ground water. 56 

Vegetation and relation to water table. 56 

Treatment of land and crops grown. 56 

Financial. 57 

Sanitary. 57 

Reasons for poor progress and causes of failure. 58 

Important questions to be decided before reclaiming. 58 

The design and construction of drainage works. 59 

Levees. 59 

Ditches and sluices. 61 

Drainage by pumping. 63 

General observations. 63 

Pumps. 64 

Power. 66 

Supplemental investigations. 67 

Marsh lands at Green Harbor, Marshfield, Plymouth County, Mass. 67 

History and description.. 67 

Tides. 73 

Drainage conditions. 74 

Soil. 74 

Dike and sluice... 75 

Crops. 76 

Financial. 77 

Conclusion. 77 

Diked lands at Wellfieet, Barnstable County, Mass. 78 

Geography. 78 

History. 79 

Description. 80 

Dike and sluice. 81 

Ditches. 83 

The marsh lands of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. 83 

Geography and extent. 83 

Climate. 85 

Tides. 86 

Soil. 88 

Dikes. 99 

Sluices. 92 

Ditches. 93 

Bogs and warping. 93 

Crops and their value. 99 

Land values. 93 

“Marsh act”. 98 

Conclusion. 98 

[Bull. 240] 






















































ILLUSTRATIONS. 


* 


PLATES. 

. Page. 

Plate I. Fig. 1.— Levee and inclosed pasture land. Fig. 2. — Levee, field, 

and foreshore. Colburn marsh lands, Delaware City, Del_ 18 

II. Fig. 1.—Land end of sluice at low tide. Fig. 2.—Example of 

a lateral drainage ditch. Colburn marsh lands, Delaware City, 

Del. 22 

III. Fig. 1.—Rock-facing for protection of levee and foreshore, St. 

Georges Marsh Co., Newcastle County, Del. Fig. 2.—Methods 
of levee protection and sluice 4, Maurice River, Dorchester, 

N. J. 30 

IV. Fig. 1.—At ordinary high tide (twice daily) July, 1903, from 

Mauricetown bridge easterly along highway, Dorchester, N. J. 

Fig. 2.—Same during new construction work, December, 1903. 34 

V. Fig. 1.—Plowing on land 1.2 feet above mean low tide in Maurice 

River. Fig. 2.—Strawberry field 2.2 feet above mean low tide. 

Marsh lands of Alfred H. Lupton, Dorchester, N. J. 34 

VI. Fig. 1.—Ditch system and protected fields and woodland. Fig. 

2.—Stacking corn shocks for winter feeding. Marsh lands of 

Howard Compton, Dorchester, N. J. 34 

VII. Fig. 1.—Cornfields and 58-bushel load of corn grown on land 
2 feet above mean low tide in Maurice River. Fig. 2.- —Levee 
and pile and brush protection, Maurice River. Marsh lands 

of Howard Compton, Dorchester, N. J. 34 

VIII. Fig. 1.—Main ditch leading to sluice 1. Fig. 2.—Clearing and 
burning brush and stumps in cedar swamp. Marsh lands of 
the Mauricetown Banking Co., Mauricetown, N. J. 38 

IX. Fig. 1.—Sluices 8 and 9, showing formation of ice below ordi¬ 

nary high water mark. Fig. 2.—Sluice 8, showing gate slightly 
open, how the weight of the gate retards the discharge and 
the liability to interference from ice. Marsh lands of the 
Mauricetown Banking Co., Mauricetown, N. J. 50 

X. Fig. 1.—Main ditch leading to sluice 4, example of a choked 

ditch. Fig. 2.—Lateral ditch near sluice 3, example of a 
clear ditch. Marsh lands of the Mauricetown Banking Co., 

Mauricetown, N. J. 50 

XI. Fig. 1.—Dike and land end of sluice at low tide. Fig. 2.— 
Japanese millet grown on land about 7 feet above mean low 

water. Marsh lands at Green Harbor, Mass. 76 

XII. General view of dike at low tide, showing method of protection. 

Diked lands at Wellfleet, Mass ... 80 

XIII. Fig. 1.—Outer end of sluice at low tide, showing granite quarry 
grout facing. Diked lands at Wellfleet, Mass. Fig. 2.—Diking 
operations, showing method of placing material. Diked lands 
at South Wellfleet, Mass. 80 


[Bull. 240] 


( 7 ) 














8 


Page. 

Plate XIV. Fig. 1—Waterside, showing method of picket and heading brush 
protection, aboideau. Fig. 2.—Land side, showing layers of 
brush and ordinary height of interior water, aboideau. Dis¬ 
charge Creek, Grand Pre, Nova Scotia. 90 

XV. Fig. 1.—Sluice under construction and device for sealing the 
seat and preventing leakage by Arthur A. Hicks, Upper Sack- 
ville, New Brunswick. Fig. 2—Tantramar River, New Bruns¬ 
wick, at half tide, showing foreshore, running dike, and hay 

barns in the distance. 92 

XVI. Fig. 1.—Power-driven machine for freeing channels of sedges 
and salt grasses, Misseguash marsh, New Brunswick. Fig. 2. 

Haying on warped fresh-water bogs, upper reaches of Misseguash 
River, New Brunswick. 96 

TEXT FIGURES. 

Fig. 1. Diagram showing predicted and actual time and height of tide in 

Delaware Bay, July 1909, and influence of moon and winds. 13 

2. Diagram showing vertical rate of ebb and flood for 6 hours 13 minutes, 

with tidal ranges of 1 to 10 feet. 

3. Map showing marsh lands of estate of Arthur Colburn, Delaware City, 

Newcastle County, Del. 

4. Cross section of levee near north end Colburn estate, Delaware City, 

Del. . ; - 20 

5. Cross section of levee at Reedy Point, Colburn estate, Delaware City, 

Del. 29 

6. Cross section through levee on center line of sluice, Colburn estate, 

Delaware City, Del. 21 

7. Cross section of sluice, Colburn estate, Delaware City, Del. 22 

8. Diagram showing rise and fall of tide and ditch water and sluice leak¬ 

age and discharge Colburn estate, Delaware City, Del. 23 

9. Map of portion of St. Georges Marsh Co.’s land, Delaware City, Del... 30 

10. Map of drainage area tributary to St. Georges sluice, Delaware City, 

Del. 30 

11. Cross section of levee, St. Georges Marsh Co., Delaware City, Del- 31 

12. Map of marsh lands owned by Howard Compton, Alfred H. Lupton, 

and others, near Dorchester, Cumberland County, N. J. 34 

13. Sections of levee, and sluices between Dorchester and Mauricetown, 

Maurice River Township, Cumberland County, N.J. 36 

14. Profiles showing position of ground water in November, 1909, on 

lines M-N, O-P, and Q-R, of fig. 12, Dorchester, N.J. 40 

15. Map of Mauricetown Banking Co.’s Land, Mauricetown, Cumberland 

County, N.J. 46 

16. Sections of levee and sluices Mauricetown Banking Co., Mauricetown, 

N.J. 48 

17. Showing the time in hours and minutes sluices play for tidal ranges 

of 2 to 10 feet, together with the clear openings of sluice and minimum 
bottom widths of main ditch necessary to drain marsh land. 62 

18. Map of Green Harbor River, and adjacent coast line, showing reclaimed 

marshes, Marshfield, Mass. 66 

19. Sections of dike and details of sluice and gate chamber, Wellfleet, 

Mass. 80 

20. Diagram showing form of bore, Petitcodiac River, Moncton, New 

Brunswick. 87 

21. Cross section of dikes Nova Scotia. 90 

[Bull. 240] 
























TIDAL MARSHES AND THEIR RECLAMATION. 


introduction. 

The embanking of tidal marshes and their use for agricultural pur¬ 
poses date back to antiquity. For upward of three centuries the 
coastal countries of Europe, particularly those bordering on the 
North Sea, have been engaged in this practice and have developed 
in the polders of the Netherlands and the fen lands of England the 
finest agricultural lands in Europe, and drainage works of greater 
magnitude than elsewhere in the world. 

In this country the reclaiming of tidal marshes extends back about 
150 years, but the results obtained have not been wholly satisfactory. 
The comparatively few permanent successes have been accompanied 
by so many failures that many people have become discouraged and 
skeptical as to the practicability of such reclamations. 

The Department of Agriculture, cognizant of the indifferent suc¬ 
cesses and appreciating the great importance of the subject, has 
gathered, published, and disseminated much useful information on 
tidal marsh lands. The principal departmental publications upon 
the subject are, “ Tidal Marshes of the United States,” by D. M. 
Nesbit, issued in 1885; 1 “ Reclamation of Salt Marsh Lands,” by 
Thomas H. Means, revised edition issued in 1903; 2 and u Reclama¬ 
tion of Tide Lands,” by J. O. Wright, issued in 1907. 3 

The Nesbit report of 1885 contains 244 pages, and, from data 
secured by correspondence with landowners and other interested 
parties, describes the status of marsh reclamation work along the 
whole length of the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts. There are 
interesting descriptions of drainage works in Nova Scotia, New 
Brunswick, and the State of Washington, and quotations from the 
reports of the State geologist of New Jersey for the years 1869 and 
1870, giving general accounts of reclamation work in that State, in 
England, and in Holland. Other sections of the bulletin cover 
briefly the historical, physical, legislative, and business aspects of 
the subject. 

1 U. S. Dept. Agr., Misc. Spec. Rpt. No. 7. 

2 U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Soils Circ. 8, rev. 

8 U. S. Dept. Agr., Office Expt. Stas. Rpt. 1906, pp. 373-397. 

[Bull. 240] (9) 




10 


The Means report of 1903 is a 10-page circular which had its incep¬ 
tion in the desire to rid the tidal marshes of the mosquito pest. It 
contains valuable suggestions relative to the drainage, preparation, 
cultivation, chemistry, and agricultural value of marsh land. 

The Wright report of 1907 contains about 30 pages and treats 
briefly of the history, objects, results, and causes of failure of tidal- 
marsh reclamation, and gives pertinent suggestions relative to meth¬ 
ods of doing the work; the location, dimensions, and protection of 
dikes; the construction of sluice gates and pumping plants; and the 
drainage and treatment of the soil. Drawings are shown for a three- 
flume concrete and a three-flume wooden sluice with bills of material 
for each. 

The population of the United States is increasing rapidly, and in 
one State now exceeds 500 to the square mile. Due to this fact, there 
is a growing scarcity of good upland farms and a widespread inquiry 
for detailed information on various phases of marsh-reclamation 
work. Under these circumstances the Department of Agriculture, 
through drainage investigations of the Office of Experiment Stations, 
has sought by critical study into certain engineering and agricultural 
problems involved to further advance the cause of tidal-marsh recla¬ 
mation and to deduce practical, up-to-date rules for the guidance of 
those having in charge the design or construction of drainage works 
in seacoast marshes. An effort has been made to secure accurate 
information, to treat the subject in a more detailed manner, and 
to bring out points not covered, or at most only suggested, in the 
previous publications. The importance of the subject is recognized 
everywhere. The inherent fertility of much of this land, its exemp¬ 
tion from the evil effects of prolonged droughts, and its proximity 
to the populous seaboard cities, emphasize this importance. Not 
alone are the agricultural possibilities almost boundless, but the 
health, comfort, and. well-being of thousands of people must inevit¬ 
ably be promoted. 

For the purpose of obtaining reliable and first-hand information, 
numerous marshes in different States have been investigated. Four 
reclamations have been surveyed, current-meter measurements made 
of the sluice discharges, notes plotted, and the results studied in 
detail, as follows: 

1. Marsh land belonging to the estate of Arthur Colburn, Delaware 
City, New Castle County, Del. 

2. Marsh land of the St. Georges Marsh Co., New Castle County, 

Del. 

3. Marsh lands belonging to Howard Compton, Alfred H. Lupton, 
and others, Dorchester, Cumberland County, N. J. 

4. Marsh land of the Mauricetown Banking Co., Mauricetown, 
Cumberland County, N. J. 

[Bull. 240] 


11 


DEFINITION OF TERMS. 

It is thought well at this point to give definitions of some of the 
terms which will be used in the following discussion. 

u Tidal marsh ” will be taken to mean any marsh subject to the 
influences of tidal waters, whether those waters are salt, brackish, or 

fresh. 

u Foreshore ” will be considered as the strip of land between the 
levee and the river or sea. 

u Outside and u without ” will be considered as on the river side 
of the levee. 

u Inside ” and u within ” will be considered as on the land side of 
the levee. 

“ M. L. AY.” is an abbreviation for mean low water; it will be con¬ 
sidered as the established mean low water of the river or sea in the 
locality which may be under consideration, irrespective of whether 
it is the mean of all the low waters or merely of the lower low waters. 
It is the datum or plane of reference for levels; its numerical value 
is zero. 

u Elevation ” will be considered as distance above mean low water; 
with a minus sign, as distance below mean low water. 

“ Second-feet ” is an abbreviation for “ cubic feet per second.” 

“ Run-off ” or “ discharge ” is the volume of water flowing in a 
stream or ditch. 

“ Rainfall ” is expressed in depth in inches. 

/ FIELD WORK. 

The surveys were made during the summer and fall of 1909. 
Distances were measured by stadia. Levels were run with a transit 
and are referred to mean low water in the Delaware or Maurice 
Rivers. The velocity measurements of sluice leakage and discharge 
were made with a small Price current meter, the integration method 
being employed. 

Before proceeding to detailed descriptions of the four reclamations 
already referred to, brief general discussions bearing on the action 
of tides and the formation of marshes will, it is hoped, prove of 
interest and value. 

TIDES. 

In the world of nature few phenomena are more complex than 
those of the tides. According to the uncorrected equilibrium theory 
of Newton, elaborated by Laplace, and accepted by most writers for 
many years after their time, the earth was conceived as a rotating 
globe covered with a hypothetical sheet of water or by zonal seas, 
the depth being assumed as uniform, or depending upon latitude but 
[Bull. 240] 


12 


not upon longitude. In such a sea the attraction of the moon would 
create a wave about 7 inches in height, with a width halfway around 
the world, and cause a corresponding rise of the waters on the oppo¬ 
site side of the earth. In like manner the sun’s attraction would 
create a wave about 3 inches in height. 

In order to fit this theory to the conditions as existing in nature, it 
was supposed that the tidal wave had its origin in the great ocean 
area of the globe, the South Pacific and Antarctic Oceans, that it 
moved from east to west, impinging against the easterly coasts of 
continents, and that in completing the circuit of the earth a period 
of time was consumed which varied with the ocean’s depth and with 
the interposition of continents and islands. 

The observed conditions of the tide in different parts of the world 
are so at variance with those formerly supposed to exist that later 
investigators have discarded or greatly modified the former theories. 

The most advanced thought of to-day regards certain of the oceans 
under the influence of gravity, the earth’s rotation, and the horizontal 
pull of the moon and sun as oscillating areas, that certain areas of the 
oceans have the right depth and the right length between land bar¬ 
riers, so that the free periods of oscillation of their waters are in ap¬ 
proximate unison with the tide-producing influences, and that there 
exist points of complete or partial rest called nodal points or spots 
of no tide, somewhat analogous to the conditions in a vibrating violin 
string. Actual measurements of depth in the North Sea have shown 
the existence and location of nodal points, and research indicates that 
in the open seas far removed from land there may be tides of from 
2 to 10 feet in height, conditions which formerly were believed im¬ 
possible. 

In illustrating the forces which tend to deflect a particle moving on 
the earth’s surface, Prof. G. H. Darwin says: 1 

When, in the Northern Hemisphere, water moves from north to south it 
passes from a place where the surface of the earth is moving slower to where 
it is moving quicker. Then, as the water goes to the south, it carries with it 
only the velocity adapted to the northern latitude, and so gets left behind by the 
earth. Since the earth spins from west to east, a southerly current acquires a 
westward trend. Conversely, when water is carried northward of its proper 
latitude it leaves the earth behind and is carried eastward. Hence the water 
can not oscillate northward and southward without at the same time oscillat¬ 
ing eastward and westward. 

The oscillating oceans create ocean eddies and currents winch trans¬ 
mit the oscillations into all the seas and bays of the earth, causing 
a constant circulation of oceanic waters, and it is a matter of fact 

1 Manual of Tides. Part IVb, Cotidal Lines for the World, by R. A. Harris. U. S. 
Coast and Geodetic Survey Rpt. 1904, Appendix 5, pp. 315-400. 

[Bull. 240] 




13 


and observance that 
there is always a 
tendency for the 
cold waters of the 
poles to approach 
the equator, from 
which the warm wa¬ 
ters tend to drift to¬ 
ward the poles. 

Late investigations 
in Germany have 
demonstrated tidal 
movements in the 
earth’s crust itself. 

With respect to the 
sun, the earth re¬ 
volves on its axis in 
24 hours, which is 
the solar day; with 
respect to the moon, 
the earth revolves in 
about 24 hours and 
51 minutes, which is 
the lunar day. Thus 
there are two solar 
and two lunar tides 
each day, but as the 
influence of the sun 
as a tide-producing 
agency is only about 
four-tenths that of 
the moon, the solar 
tides are noticeable 
principally through 
their effect in in¬ 
creasing or dimin¬ 
ishing the lunar 
tides. The period 
required for the 
moon to pass from 
a given phase to the 
same phase again is 
29 days 12 hours. 

[Bull. 240] 


Height in Feet 



© 



















































































































































































































































14 


Soon after passing those points in her journey known as “new 
moon ” and “ full moon,” that is, when the sun and moon are in the 
same or opposite parts of the heavens, the two tidal effects are united, 
and the tides rise higher and fall lower than usual, and are known 
as “ spring tides.” At the “ quarters ” the tides tend to neutralize 
by the crest of the lunar wave falling in the hollow of the solar wave, 
and the rise and fall are diminished and are known as “ neap tides.” 

Every 12 hours and 25 minutes, on the average, twice each lunar 
day, will therefore be a period of high water, and 6 hours and 13 
minutes later will be a period of low water. 

Notwithstanding the time and height of tides are governed by 
inexorable laws, both are strongly affected by the force and direc¬ 
tion of the wind and the depth and contour of the shore. The dia¬ 
gram (fig. 1), based on the published tide tables of the United States 
Coast and Geodetic Survey, shows the preponderant influence of the 
moon and the effect of winds. In Delaware Bay a northwesterly 
wind favors a low tide, and a southwesterly wind favors a high tide. 
It w T ill be noted from the diagram that the prevailing winds were 
southerly and consequently the tides high for the greater part of the 
month. 

Within rivers and streams the tidal undulation or wave becomes a 
true current, the ebb requiring more time than the flood on account 
of the fresh water which has been held back. The velocity of the 
ebb or flood attains a maximum at a time about half way between the 
high and low “ stands ” of the tide. The range of the tide, a con¬ 
trolling factor in gravity drainage, varies widely at different places, 
as is shown by the following table, a number of the selections being in 
localities where marsh reclamation has been extensive. 

Mean range of tide at different places. 


Place. 

Feet. 

Place. 

Feet. 

Sackville, New Brunswick. 

39.0 

Wilmington, N. C. 

o 4 

Annapolis, Nova Scotia. 

25.1 

Charleston, S. C. 

^ 9 

Portland, Me. 

S. 9 

Savannah, Ga. 

A £ 

Portsmouth, N. H. 

9.2 

St. Augustine, Fla 

4 9 

Boston, Mass. 

9.6 

Key West, Fla. 

1 9 

Plymouth, Mass. 

9.0 

Mobile, Ala. 


Providence, B. I. 

4.4 

Biloxi Light, Miss. 

9 

New London, Conn. 

2.5 

Port Eads, La. 

i 

Oyster Bay, N. Y. 

7.3 

Galveston, Tex. 

c 

Newark, N. J. 

5.0 

San Francisco, Cal 

4 n 

Salem, N. J. 

0.4 

Astoria, Oreg. 

A 4 

Mauricetown, N. J. 

5. 2 

Seattle, Wash.. 

7 7 

Delaware City, Del. 

5.9 

Hull, England. 

1A 9 

Old Point Comfort, Va. 

2.5 

Harlingen, Netherlands 

4.2 





The highest tides in the world are found in the spring ranges of 
50.5 feet in the Basin of Minas, Bay of Fundv, and 45.6 feet in the 
Gallegos River on the southeastern coast of Patagonia. 

From the above table it is seen that gravity drainage, which is the 
simplest and least expensive form, is more frequently practicable 

[Bull. 240] 












































15 


along the North Atlantic and North Pacific coasts than in the South¬ 
ern States; the Gulf marshes can not be drained in this way. 

Thorough knowledge concerning the tides has numerous practical 
applications, such as deciding on grade of sluices, height of levees, 
and opportune time for special construction or repairs. For instance, 
the most favorable time for making small repairs on a sluice would 
be when a strong offshore wind came at new or full moon. A severe 
storm at this time of the month would be an indication of what the 
height of the dike should be. Construction work which required a 
cofferdam would encounter the smallest fluctuation of tide when the 
moon was on the first or third quarter. 

It is a matter of general knowledge that the theoretical oscillations 
of the tide are represented by a simple cosine curve. Such curves for 
tides having a rise and fall of 1 to 10 feet, which are the practical 
limits of mean range in the United States, have been plotted and 
are shown in the diagram (fig. 2). 

Example of application .—Required the time of opening and the 
period of play of a sluice, the ditch water being 2 feet above low 
water outside and the range of the tide 8 feet. 

From the right-hand vertical line follow down the curve which 
starts at 8 until the horizontal line passing through 2 is intersected. 
At this instant the tide and ditch water are at the same level and the 
gates about to open. From the intersection follow vertically down¬ 
ward to the bottom horizontal line, and time is noted as about 2 hours 
and 4 minutes before low water. This is the approximate time the 
sluice would play, assuming the interior water to have been dis¬ 
charged by the sluice to approximately the level of mean low water. 

Sea water weighs about 64.1 pounds per cubic foot, 1.6 pounds, or 
2-J per cent more than ordinary river water. It contains about 3.5 
per cent by weight of mineral matter in solution, of which approxi¬ 
mately four-fifths, or If pounds per cubic foot, is common salt. 

According to Regnault 1 and Dittmar, 2 the mean composition of 
sea water is as follows: 


Mean compo«ition of sea water. 


Constituents. 

Regnault. 

Dittmar. 

Pndjnm ehlorirl fmmmnn salt)...... 

Per cent. 
2.700 
.360 
.230 
.140 
.070 

Per cent. 
2.721 
.381 
.166 
.126 

Magnesium chlorid (bittern). 

Magnesium sulphate (Epsom salt). 

Calcium sulphate ( gypsum.). 

Potassium chlorid . 

Potassium sulphate. 

.086 

.012 

.008 

96.500 

Ealrinm earhonate ('limestone'). 

.003 
.002 
96.495 

Magnesium bromid. 

Water (and loss in analysis). 

Total. 

100.000 

100.000 



1 Soils, by E. W. Ililgard. New York and London, 1907, p. 26. 

2 Report on tlie Scientific Results of the Voyage of H. M. S. Challenger during the 
Years 1873-76. Physics and Chemistry—Vol. I. Tart I.—Report on the Composition of 
Ocean-Water, by William Dittmar. London, 1884. 

[Bull. 240] 





















16 


While the waters of the ocean contain in solution appreciable quan¬ 
tities of many of the elements, and it is surmised, though not proven, 
that all the known elements may be represented, yet at considerable 
distances from land the waters are clear and almost entirely free 
from suspended matter. 



Fig. 2.—Diagram showing vertical rate of ebb and flood for 6 
hours 13 minutes, with tidal ranges of 1 to 10 feet. 

MARSHES. 

Marshes have their youth and old age, existing in all stages of 
development. Some are old river or lake bottoms filled with the 
undecomposed vegetable accumulation of ages. These peat marshes, 
when decomposition is more advanced, become the muck beds so fre- 

[Bull. 240] 





























































17 


quently seen along our coasts. The reclamation of such lands should 
be undertaken with caution. If possessed of sufficient earthy mate¬ 
rial, they may become extremely fertile, especially adapted to the 
growing of potatoes, celery, cabbage, and onions, but their shrinkage 
and consolidation when drained and aerated is very large, and as a 
foundation for sluices and embankments they are unstable. 

Another type of marsh exists as a barren waste of sand, almost 
devoid of vegetation. Their reclamation is not likely to be finan¬ 
cially successful, as the expense of putting the land in a productive 
condition is very great, and sand as an embanking material is most 
treacherous. 

Still another type of marsh is that found behind barrier beaches 
along outer coasts and in other locations subject to violent wave 
action. 

Through long-continued mechanical action of the waves on an 
exposed coast the bowlders, pebbles, and sand are ground into ex¬ 
ceedingly fine particles, of which the greater portion is carried by 
the undertow into the sea, but an appreciable quantity remains to be 
swept by waves and currents into the indentations and inlets of the 
shore. Moreover, such inlets or estuaries have a tendency to become 
closed by ridges or barriers of sand heaped up by the sea and the 
action of winds. The tidal marshes formed in this way are very 
extensive, but their reclamation is often difficult, because free outfall 
channels are not easily constructed and maintained. 

Soil is disintegrated rock, and its formation is in progress every¬ 
where through various chemical and mechanical agencies. From the 
spot of its origin, perhaps hundreds of miles inland, moving water is 
the vehicle which is ceaselessly conveying it to its resting place to 
form the fourth and, to the agriculturist, the most important type 
of marsh. Without the instrumentality of the tides, the fine sand, 
silt, and clay which is being constantly brought down by rivers 
would be carried out to sea and lost to man’s use forever. The de¬ 
scending fresh water, with its accumulation of detritus, is met and 
forced back by the comparatively clear water of the flood tide; before 
the next ebb occurs the silt-laden water has been forced to spread out 
over the low marshes, and a portion of the suspended matter is de¬ 
posited. The heavier particles deposit first, thus building up most 
rapidly the marsh adjacent to the river; the finer, lighter particles 
are carried farther toward the uplands, and here the marsh-building 
process is much slower. With the lapse of time enormous areas 
have in this way been raised, so that they are only submerged by 
storm tides, and in this condition offer inviting prospects for recla¬ 
mation and development. 

The rate of tidal deposit varies greatly. A heavily wooded water¬ 
shed, or one in which the agricultural development has been small, 
100940°—Bull. 240—11-2 



18 


will generally be drained by a comparatively clear river, and the 
marshes will, in consequence, build up very slowly. 

Most soils shrink when deprived of their water. Experience, both 
in this country and abroad, has shown that where marshes have been 
drained there is a long continued shrinkage or subsidence of the land, 
the amount of which varies with the depth and character of the soil, 
being more in those of a peaty or mucky nature, and less in clay, silt, 
or sand. Approximate subsidences noted in several reclamations are 
as follows: Green Harbor, Mass., between 1872 and 1908, about 2 feet; 
Hackensack Meadows, X. J., between 1869 and 1887, from 3 to 3.5 
feet; Cohansey Creek, Cumberland County, N. J., from 2^ to 3 feet; 
Mays Landing, X. J., about 1 foot; Salem, X. J., 34 to 44 feet; 
Whittlesey, England, 7 feet in 18 years, and in the old reclamations, 
it is said, the subsidence is still going on at the rate of an inch per 
year. The drainage of the fen lands has, with the lapse of time, been 
accomplished only through an ever increased use of pumps. In 
planning drainage works this tendency to subsidence must be fulty 
appreciated as, if long continued, the ditches become more and more 
ineffective, and thereafter the water can only be removed by pump¬ 
ing. Failure to discern the shrinkage of marsh soils has caused many 
to believe that the tides rise higher than in former years, but there is 
no evidence that such is the case. 

The following mechanical and chemical analyses of tidal-marsh 
soils from the vicinity of Oyster Bay, X. Y., are given as probably 
typical of extensive areas along the Atlantic coast. These analyses 
are taken from “ Reclamation of Salt Marsh Lands ” issued in 1903. 1 


Mechanical ancl chemical analyses of tide-marsh soils from Oyster Bay , V. Y. 


Sample 

No. 

Locality of soil. 

Sand. 

Silt. 

Clay. 

Lime 

CaO. 

Potash 

K 2 0. 

Phos¬ 

phoric 

acid 

P2O5. 

Organic 

matter. 

Soluble 

in 

water. 

5379 

Mud from tidal flat, west 










end Lloyds Harbor, 0-6 
inches 2 . 

Per ct. 
13.2 

Per ct. 
44.8 

Per ct. 
42.0 

Per ct. 
0.43 

Per ct. 
0.57 

Per ct. 
0.16 

Per ct. 
7.18 

Per ct. 
2.16 

5374 

Sod and grass roots from 


outer marsh, Center Is¬ 
land, 0-36 inches. 







29.00 

4.07 

5375 

Eel-grass clay from outer 








marsh, Center Island, 
36-66 inches 3 . 

28.0 

44.9 

27.1 

.31 

. 57 

.14 

5.36 

2.55 

5376 

Sod taken from inner 



marsh, Center Island, 0- 
12 inches. 







34. 70 

1.87 

5377 

Decomposing sod from in- 








ner marsh, Center Island, 
12-24 inches. 







25.49 

3.87 

5378 

Eel-grass clay from inner 








marsh, Center Island, 
24-72 inches 4 . 

38.0 

37.1 

24.9 

.41 

.68 

.12 

10. 90 

3.56 




1 U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Soils Circ. 8, rev. 

2 High tide covered this flat 4 to 5 feet deep. 

3 This marsh was covered at high tide. 

4 The drainage of the inner marsh was in progress, but the marsh had been accidentally covered several 
times with salt water. 

[Bull. 240] 

' ' . 





























U. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240, Office Expt. Stations. Drainage Investigations. PLATE I. 



Fig. 1.—Levee and Enclosed Pasture Land. 



Fig. 2.—Levee, Field, and Foreshore. 

COLBURN MARSH LANDS, DELAWARE CITY, DEL., NOVEMBER 1 1909. 









U. S. Dept, of Agr., Sul. 240. 


drainage Investigations. 


Office of Experiment Stations. 


U S DEPT OF AGRICULTURE — OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS 

DRAINAGE INVESTIGATIONS 
CG.ELLIOTT, CHIEF 

MAP OF 

COLBURN ESTATE 

Delaware City, Del- 

Surveyed June 1909 
GEORGE M WARREN, Drainage Engineer 



CROP ACREAGE 
Wheat 76a. 

Com too a 

Grass 90a 

Oats . 7a. 

Fbsture (good) 67a. 

Pastarm (poor).. 7/a. 

(Growth o? "three square") S3 


LEGEND 

t uating Ditches 

fences ----- 

A f) A 

Elevations of Ground ^ 

„ „ Ditch Water in June '60 

. <*»«-. ® A.A, 

bulrushes are shewn thus 


Datum M.LW in Delaware River 


Fig. Hr~Map showing marsh lands of estate of Arthur Colburn, Delaware City, Newcastle County, Delaware. 


TH F NORR'S P£1 LftS CO . WASHINGTOtl , D C 



































































































































• ’ % : ' - 




r- i 



•' .. 


V ■ 













•i 




















•«» • •> *» ■** •’ i « i«i i »)| »1 ^bai- /in. «(. .1 






































19 


DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FOUR RECLAMATIONS INVESTIGATED. 
MARSH LAND NEAR DELAWARE CITS, NEW CASTLE COUNTY, DEL. 

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION. 

The marsh land here considered comprises about three-fifths of the 
515 acres making up three farms on the west side of the Delaware 
River, and situated about 1 mile south of Delaware City, Del. 

First reclaimed in the early fifties, the levee was raised and the 
present sluice built in 1894. Cultivation has been practically con¬ 
tinuous for over half a century and to-day the lands are carrying 110 
head of cattle and 21 horses. (For plan of lands showing levee, 
ditch system, topographic features, and crops raised in 1909 see 
fig. 3.) 

The tributary drainage area contains about 488 acres and varies 
from 1.6 to 16 feet above mean low water. The interior marsh has a 
dishing or “ saucer-shaped " profile. Near the levee the land is from 
2.5 to 4.0 feet above datum, the lower portions being in pasture (see 
PI. I, fig. 1), and the higher in hay or corn. About 800 feet inland 
is a well-defined chain of low areas containing collectively 53 acres, 
and having an almost uniform elevation of 1.7 feet; this land is 
covered with three-square sedge. Continuing westerly, successive 
fields being in grass, corn, and wheat, the ground rises to the drainage 
line, 9 to 11 feet above datum. The foreshore averages about 200 
feet wide and is covered with a rank growth of reeds and marsh 
grass; near the levee it has generally been raised by deposit to 
ordinary high-water mark. (See PL I, fig. 2.) 

TIDES. 

The mean range of the tide is 5.9 feet; the rise takes place in about 
5§ hours and the fall in about 6f hours. About once a year it may 
be expected that the tide will reach elevation 9. Within recent years 
elevation 9.52 was noted, which is several inches above the greater 
length of the levee. Extreme high water, so far as known, is elevation 
11, reached in October, 1878. Extreme low water is believed to be 
about 2.8 feet below datum. The Delaware River at this point is 
only slightly brackish, though it is probable that the small rainfall 
and lessened flow of 1909 allowed the saline water to ascend farther 
than usual. 

SOIL AND SUBSOIL. 

The soil, as deposited by the tide, is a plastic, silty clay, and weighs 
about 86 pounds per cubic foot. When wet it has a bluish color, and 
when dry is a light gray and is commonly designated as “ blue mud ” 
or “ gray mud ” by farmers and marsh men. Deprived of all moisture 
except atmospheric, the soil shrinks from 30 to 40 per cent cf its 
volume, and each cubic foot parts with about 35 pounds of water, 

[Bull. 240] 


20 


or 41 per cent by weight. Its interstitial space under field conditions 
is about 56 per cent of its volume. 

II ithin the levee the soil is stiffer, and its mottled appearance and 
the wiry nature of the vegetation attest imperfect aeration and drain¬ 
age. Test pits and sounding show a diminishing depth of “ blue 
mud approaching the uplands, where a clay loam 12 to 15 inches 
in thickness was usually followed by a muck or peat formation. 


Exfr^mm. EJev.HOO^ 



Fig. 4. —Cross section of levee near north end Colburn estate, Delaware City, Del. 


I here is evidence that near the levee the soil is very deep. Three 
test borings on the river front, made in 1906 by the Chesapeake and 
Delaware Canal Commission at Delaware City, St, Augustine pier, 
and Appoquinimink River, which points are situated respectively 1J 
miles northerly, 3 and 5 miles southerly from the Colburn marsh, 
showed the following stratifications: 

At Delaware C ity . F or 31 feet, soft blue mud containing wood and 
vegetable matter; next 10 feet, blue mud and sand, mixed in about 



€ 6 ’ 


{ MLW.0.00 _ _ . - _; 

U 5 .Dept. or Agriculture DRAINAGE INVESTIGATIONS Office of Exp. Stations 

Fig. 5. Cross section of levee at Reedy Toint, Colburn estate, Delaware City, Del. 

equal proportions; next 12 feet, very soft blue mud; and next 3 feet, 
green sand and mud; driving more difficult, and pipe drawn at 56 
feet. 

At St . Augustine pier .—For 22 feet, blue mud; easy driving; next 
38 feet, coarse, green, almost black sand, which became finer as depth 
increased, making driving more difficult; pipe drawn at 60 feet. 

At Appoquinimink River .—For 80 feet, stiff blue mud; pipe driven 
and drawn in one day. 

[Bull. 240] 




















21 


The natural fertility of 
the Colburn marshes is 
unquestioned, for they 
have been tilled many 

years with little or no 

«/ 

artificial fertilization, and 
without apparent exhaus¬ 
tion of the soil. 

LEVEE. 

Cross sections of the 
levee shown in Plate I, 
giving heights, widths, 
and slopes, are shown in 
figures 4, 5, and 6. 

The foundation of the 
levee is believed to be 
the natural surface of 
the marsh without other 
treatment than the cut¬ 
ting and removal of the 
vegetation upon it. The 
top and slopes have a 
good growth of grass but 
have not been kept suffi¬ 
ciently free from weeds, 
thus harboring burrowing 
animals. The condition 
of the stone facing in 
places emphasizes the im¬ 
portance of suitable back¬ 
ing. Wave action, by re¬ 
moval of some of the fine 
material, has left spaces 
into which the stones have 
settled. As crushed stone 
or screened gravel would 
be too expensive for gen¬ 
eral use, it is believed that 
oyster shells would make 
an excellent substitute. 
These can be landed in 
barges at the dock in 
Delaware City for 3J 
cents per bushel. 

[Bull. 240] 



























































































22 


SLUICE. 

The sluice (see PI. II, fig. 1) is of timber construction 51 by 7 feet, 
outside dimensions. Figures 6 and 7 show its construction in detail 
and its present grade. The gates are double thickness, 2-inch un¬ 
matched plank, have strap hinges and are unweighted. Near the 
center of each gate is an opening about 5 by 8 inches, fitted with cop¬ 
per slide working in horizontal copper grooves for admitting river 
water as needed during times of drought. Both gates seat poorly, 

A strip is missing from the 
bottom of the southerly 
gate, with the result that 
when closed there is an 
open space beneath its 
whole length, admitting 
large quantities of river 
water. 

Figure 8 shows graphi¬ 
cally the rise and fall of 
the tide and the ditch 
water, the times being 
plotted as abscissas and 
the heights as ordinates. 
Beneath is plotted the 
sluice leakage or dis¬ 
charge in second-feet at 
the corresponding moment. The leakage of September 2 and the 
discharge of August G are illustrated for the reason that on those 
dates the quantities measured approximately represent the normal 
workings of the sluice during the summer season. 

The following table shows length of time the sluice leaked or 
played, the rise or fall of the ditch water during that time, the 
maximum and average rates of flow, and the total leakage or dis¬ 
charge for the period and on the dates given: 

Leakage and discharge of sluices. 


permitting large leakage from the river. 



Fig. 7.—Cross section of sluice, Colburn estate, Dele- 

ware City, Del. 


Date. 


1909: 

July 28... 

Aug. G_ 

Do... 
Aug. 12... 
Aug. 18.. 

Do .. 
Aug. 30 .. 
Sept. 1... 
Sept. 2... 
Averages: 
Leakage.. 
Discharge 




Rise or 
fall of 
ditch 
water. 

Rate of flow. 

Total 

leakage 

from 

river. 

Total 

Time. 

Maxi¬ 

mum. 

Average. 

discharge 
to river. 

Ilrs. 

2 

min. 

42 

Feet. 

1.01 

Sec.-feet. 
28.35 

Sec.-feet. 
16.76 

Cubic feet. 

Cubic feet. 
162,907 

10 

00 

1.08 

13.28 

6.68 

240,480 

2 

19 

.82 

31.19 

20.98 

174,973 

140,2ft 

1 

56 

.62 

28.09 

20.15 


9 

30 

.32 

6. 98 

5.11 

174,762 

2 

30 

.73 

34.18 

24.09 

216,810 
134,400 
180,748 

2 

40 

1.01 

23.11 

14.00 


3 

12 

1.25 

29.13 

15.69 


9 

24 

1.23 

6.75 

4.83 

163,447 

9 

38 

.88 

9.00 

5.54 


2 

33 

.91 

29.01 

18.61 


168,347 


[Bull. 240] 





































































U. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240, Office Expt. Stations. Drainage Investigations. 


Plate II. 



Fig. 1.—Land End of Sluice at Low Tide. 

[Horizontal marks about half way up on the sheeting indicate height to which ditch water 

ordinarily rises.] 



Fig. 2.—Example of a Lateral Drainage Ditch. 

COLBURN MARSH LANDS, DELAWARE CITY, DEL., NOVEMBER 1, 1909. 












23 


The abnormal leakage of August 6 (249,480 cubic feet) was 
caused by the northerly gate becoming stuck for about one hour in a 
partially opened position. From gaugings of the ditch water covering 
a considerable period, it is very probable that the leakage of Septem¬ 
ber 2 (163,447 cubic feet) is about the usual cpiantity. Taking the 
normal leakage between periods of sluice play as 163,447 cubic feet 
and the normal discharge as 168,347 cubic feet, it is seen that the 
former amounts to about 97 per cent of the latter. The difference in 
these quantities, 4,900 cubic feet, represents the amount of water 
which enters the land by seepage and percolation from the river, and 
by movement of the upland ground water, during a period averaging 



Fig. 8. —Diagram showing rise and fall of tide and ditch water and sluice leakage and 

discharge, Colburn estate, Delaware City, Del. 

about 9 hours and 38 minutes, evaporation being neglected. This is 
at the rate of about 10 cubic feet per acre of drainage area, twice 
daily. 

Determinations were made of the value of coefficient c in the fol¬ 
lowing formula for sluice discharge: 

q—ca y2gli, in which 
q=quantity in second-feet 
c=coefficient of discharge 

a=area of cross section of flow in square feet 
h=head in feet 

g =acceleration of gravity=32.16 

[Bull. 240 J 



























































24 


The results show that for unweighted, wooden, flap gates in com¬ 
plete submergence, or where the emergence does not exceed about 15 
per cent of the vertical height of the gate, this coefficient has a value 
of 0.64. As the tide recedes further, the submergence and buoyancy 
of the gates are diminished; gradually approaching the seating posi¬ 
tion, successive inclinations and the dead weight of the gates become 
constantly increasing factors in the retardation of the flow. (See PI. 
IX, fig. 2, p. 50.) In consequence, the coefficient of discharge lessens 
rapidly and near low tide averaged about 0.46. 

The coefficients for very small heads are not well determined. The 
difficulties of making precise gaugings of head in tidal waters and of 
securing simultaneous velocity measurements are obvious. Any error, 
however slight, during the first- or last minutes of play, affects the co¬ 
efficient beyond all proportion to the real size or importance of the 
error. From 30 to 50 seconds are absolutely necessary for a satisfac¬ 
tory current-meter measurement; and this interval of time is sufficient 
to change the head a full hundredth of a foot or more. The average 
head under which the sluice discharged, from the beginning to the 
end of play, was found from observations and deductions to be very 
close to two-thirds of the maximum head. 

DITCHES. 

The drainage is secured by about 11.4 miles of open ditches, varying 
in width from 3 to 24 feet, and in depth from 6 inches to 4 feet. The 
width averages about 12 feet and the ditch area is about 5.3 per cent 
of the area of the marsh land. They are badly silted and choked with 
rank growths of cattails and other weeds, so that effective drainage, 
with two or three exceptions, is prevented. Indeed, in this condition 
and with the large sluice leakage which exists, the very object for 
which the ditches were intended is defeated. For during each tidal 
c}^cle the leakage has to 10 hours in which to work its way back 
into the choked ditches; the subsequent period of sluice discharge, 
about 2J hours, is much too short to remove more than a very small 
percentage of this water. It is, therefore, and its appearance is con¬ 
firmation, virtually a stagnant water. To establish the truth of these 
assertions gaugings were made to the water surface in certain clear 
ditches, and in others not free. It was found that in a clear ditch 
(PI. II, fig. 2), at a point 3,600 feet from the sluice, a movement was 
observable in 10 minutes after the gates began to open; in 12 minutes 
the flow was pronounced; in 30 minutes the mean velocity had risen 
to 15 feet per minute; in 60 minutes the maximum mean velocity of 
21.6 feet per minute had been reached; for 3 hours the velocity aver¬ 
aged about 15 feet per minute; and the water surface fell 1.12 feet 
while the gates were open. 

[Bull. 240] 


25 


At a point 300 feet from the one just referred to, but in a choked 
ditch the fall was less than one-quarter of an inch, notwithstanding 
and at a point 750 feet farther from the sluice up the obstructed 
ditch the fall was less than one-quarter of an inch, notwithstanding 
the period of sluice play, 3 hours, was considerably longer than the 
average. The water which started toward the sluice 10 minutes 
after the gates opened did not cover the distance of 3,GOO feet during 
the period of play. About 2 hours and 15 minutes were consumed 
in covering the 2,050 feet of lateral ditch; the remaining 35 minutes 
of sluice action was much too short, and the flow too feeble to cover 
the 1,550 feet of main ditch. 

The trampling of cattle and the small box-culvert bridges have, 
in certain instances, forced the drainage through long, circuitous 
routes, and have even dammed it altogether. Near the northerly end 
of the lands is an area of pasturage and grassland containing over 
40 acres, where the ditch water is permanently held at about eleva¬ 
tion 1.7. The large sluice leakage taxes the storage capacity of the 
ditches to the utmost. With the interior water rising twice a day 
to elevation 1.6, it is clear that any additional leakage or rainfall, 
except such small quantity as might fall, be collected, and discharged 
during the short interval when the sluice is in action, will go largely 
to flood the areas of three-square sedge, from which its principal 
escape is by evaporation, or as taken up by vegetation. The total 
holding capacity of these ditches, between elevations 0 and 1.6, is 
about 178,000 cubic feet. With the sluice leakage averaging 163,447 
cubic feet, and seepage and percolation amounting to 4,900 cubic 
. feet between operations of the sluice, it is obvious that any addi¬ 
tional leakage or collected rainfall in excess of 9,643 cubic feet will 
be forced outside the ditches and over the low areas. 

•4 

If we should assume that 21 per cent of the precipitation consti¬ 
tuted the run-off, which would seem to be fair, in view of the known 
gravitational space of the soil, the character of the drainage area, 
and the position of the ground water, it is seen that this reserve 
storage capacity of 9,643 cubic feet would be obliterated after 37 
minutes of a rainfall amounting to 1 inch in 24 hours. These fig¬ 
ures illustrate the utterly inadequate storage capacity and the futil¬ 
ity under present conditions of preventing a concentration of storm 
water in the “ saucer ” shaped low areas. 

RAINFALL AND GROUND WATER. 

A study of the rainfall records, kept at Delaware City since July 
1, 1902, shows that for a period of 86 consecutive months to Septem¬ 
ber 1, 1909, there were 81 days when the precipitation exceeded 1 inch 
in 24 hours, 9 when it exceeded 2 inches, 4 when it exceeded 3 inches, 

[Bull. 240] 


26 


and 2 when it exceeded 4 inches. Both of the rainfalls exceeding 4 
inches came in September, a season of the year when not likely to 
harm crops and when the water table is usually approaching its 
lowest stage. The annual rainfall of about 44 inches is well dis¬ 
tributed. The monthly average of 3.7 inches will, in the long run, 
be surpassed during the months of June, July, August, and Septem¬ 
ber. The year 1909, from January to September, was one of the 
driest for many years. The rainfall during the summer and its 
effect on the ground water are shown by the following table: 


Rainfall and elevations of ground water at six points shown on the plan 


( fig. 3). 


Date. 

Rainfall. 

A. 

B. 

C. 

D. 

E. 

F. 

1909: 


Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

June 18. 

Ill showers hr June totaled 3.51 inches, 

( the last falling on the 28th. 

[ . 


2.21 




June 28. 


1.62 




June 29. 

. 

[1.61 





July 10. 




2.09 

2.65 


July 12. 





2.09 

2.65 

2.70 

July 14. 



.43 


1.93 

2.57 

2.63 

July 15. 



.44 


1.96 

2.55 

2.65 

July 16. 


.94 

.41 

.32 


2.53 

July 17. 


.84 




July 18. 


.75 






July 20. 


.23 






July 23. 

0.62 inch. 






Aug. 12. 


-.40 






Aug. 16 and 17. 

1.05 inches. 






Aug. 18. 


1.73 

.47 





Aug. 21. 


.81 

—.15 

1.12 

1.73 

1.65 

Sept. 2. 


—. 11 

Sept. 7. 


—. 73 

—.22 

—. 44 

.87 

1.25 

1.02 





The conclusions to be drawn from this table and from other 
measurements made are: (1) The water table is practically unaffected 
by the fluctuations of the tide during a single day. (2) The wet 
conditions of spring will raise the ground water to between elevations 
1.6 and 2.2 over the greater part of the marsh and about a foot higher 
in the upland a half mile from the river. (3) The large fluctuation 
in the water table at A was caused by overflow of the ditches and 
concentration of water which fell elsewhere in the low areas. (4) 
The low head on the ground water proves the upland drainage to be 
slow in motion and small in amount. (5) In summers of very small 
rainfall capillarity and evaporation may lower the water table con¬ 
siderably below mean low water, against the combined percolation 
and seepage from land, river, and ditches. 

ANTHRAX. 

This virulent and, fatal disease has cost the farmers alone- the 

© 

Delaware Diver large numbers of cattle. It is generally supposed 
to have first been communicated in this locality through the wastes 
from the morocco factories of Wilmington and Philadelphia. 1 The 

1 U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers’ Bui. 439, “Anthrax,” pp. 7, 16. 

[Bull. 240] 























































27 


' danger of outbreak among cattle which graze upon embanked lands 
is much less than among those which frequent unreclaimed marshes. 
So far as known there has never been a case of anthrax on the 
Colburn farms. 

CROPS. 

The staple crops on the Colburn lands are wheat, corn, and hay. 
Oats, rye, potatoes, and garden truck have been raised to some extent. 
Ordinary and actual yields upon fields of different elevations are 
shown in the following table: 

Crops and yield in different years upon fields of various elevations. 


Crop. 

Elevation 
of land above 

M. L. W. 

Yield per acre. 

Remarks. 

Wheat. 

Do. 

Feet. 

4 or more. 

3 to 4. 

21 bushels. 

15 bushels. 

Actual yield, year 1909, slightly less than 
ordinary yield. 

Do. 

Unusually favorable climatic conditions, 
year 1897, estimated. 

Ordinary average yield. 

Do. 

Actual yield, year 1908. 

Ordinary average crop. 

Do. 

Actual yield, year 1909. 

Do. 

Do.. 

4. 

37 bushels... 

Corn. 

Do. 

Do. 

Hay—timothy and clover. 

Hay—red top, white clover, 
bent grass. 

Oats. 

3.5 or more_ 

2.5 to 3.5. 

2.7 to 4.0. 

3 to 4. 

2 to 3. 

10. 

50 bushels.... 

25 bushels. 

21.5 bushels... 

1J tons. 

tons. 

44 bushels. 

Do. 

3.5. 

31 bushels. 





Below the elevations at which the above crops were raised were 
found pasturage at elevations from 2 to 3 feet, and three-square sedge 
grows from 1.3 to 2 feet. 

Eye, potatoes, and tomatoes of fine quality have been raised on land 
2.4 feet above mean low water. 

Phosphate is generally applied to the wheat fields at the rate of 
200 pounds per acre, but none of the marsh receives any artificial 
fertilization, as fertilizers are said to produce a rank growth of crops 
which fail to mature properly. 

The live stock is turned on to the pasture about April 15 and gets 
little or no other feed until November 1. It is said that cattle derive 
considerable benefit in the spring from the three-square sedge, which 
at that season is young and tender, and that cows which graze upon 
marsh lands yield milk of superior quality. 


FINANCIAL. 


Using the assessed valuations, believed to be fair market values, as 
a basis, it is estimated that the value of the land comprised within 
the drainage area of the Colburn lands is as follows. 

[Bull. 240] 




































28 


Value of land in the Colburn area. 


Upland, 179 acres, at $45 per acre-$8, 055 

High marsh, 256 acres, at $30 per acre_ 7, 680 

Low marsh, 53 acres, at $20 per acre__— 1, 060 


Total_16,795 

Foreshore lands are assessed at $1 per acre. 

Through the kindness of Mr. William J. Beck, manager of these 
farms for the Colburn estate, it is possible to present the following 
table of the actual cash receipts. It does not include a probable in¬ 
come of $300 or $400 per year realized by the tenants from poultry 
and hogs. 


Actual cash receipts , exclusive of those obtained from poultry and hogs , from 

the Colburn area. 


Year. 

Milk. 

Wheat. 

Corn. 

Hay. 

Toma¬ 

toes. 

Miscel¬ 

laneous. 

Total 

cash 

receipts. 

1898. 

12,010.80 
2,008.00 
3,373.52 
3,418.30 
3,143.74 
0) 

$1,544.80 
1,138. 30 
1,082.32 
1,431.54 
1.000.04 
1,728.50 

$243.56 
370,82 
419.02 
049.72 
142.36 
0) 

$76.80 
183.74 
448.30 
387.00 
168.80 
0) 

$261.56 
099.52 
321.98 
227.04 
160.92 
( l ) 

$55.50 
113.40 
21.00 

$4,193.08 
5,113.90 
6,266.14 
6,113.60 
4,638.64 

1899. 

1900. 

1901. 

1908. 

22.78 
0) 

1909. 

Average. 


2,910.88 

1,420.94 

365.10 

252.93 

334.20 

42.54 

5,265.07 



1 Returns not obtainable at tbe time survey was made. 


The following is submitted as probably a fair estimate of the 
yearly balance: 


RECEIPTS. 


Average for 1898, 1S99, 1900, 1901, 1908_$5,265.07 

EXPENDITURES. 

Interest on invested capital. $35,877, at 5 per cent_$1, 793. 85 

Taxes, $20 per thousand, on $23,580_ 471. 60 

Insurance- 50. 00 

Wages- 1, 650. 00 

Supplies- 250. 00 

Repairs to buildings and fences_ 225. 00 

Maintenance of embankment and ditches_ 250. 00 

Depreciation_ 50. 00 


Total- 4, 740. 45 

Surplus_ 524. 62 

The invested capital is estimated as follows: 

Original cost of land_$2, 000. 00 

Cost of reclamation_ 16, 552. 00 

Cost of buildings- 10,000. 00 

Cattle, 110 head at $25 per head_ 2, 750. 00 

Horses, 21 head at $75 per head_ l, 575. 00 

Machinery and tools_ 3, 000. 00 


Total-35, 877. 00 

[Bull. 240] 



















































29 


ESTIMATED COST. 

The estimated cost of reclaiming the Colburn marshes is as 


follows: 

River embankment, 7,216 lineal feet, at $1 per foot— $7, 216. 00 
Return bank, 1,940 linear feet, at 50 cents per foot— 970.00 
Stone facing (in place), 725 cubic yards, at $2.10 per 

yard- l, 522. 50 

Ditches, earth excavation, 64,440 cubic yards, at 8 

cents per yard- 5 ,155. 20 

Sluice (complete)_ 900.00 

Allow for contingencies, 5 per cent_ 78S. 19 


Total-16,551.89 


This estimate is based on prices prevailing at the time the work was 
done. Labor then was $1 to $1.10 per day of 10 hours, and stone could 
be landed in barges near the embankment for $1.25 per perch. At the 
present time labor is $1.50 for 9 hours, and stone costs $1.75 per perch 
on the barge. 

SUMMARY. 

The following is a summary of the information obtained by the 
investigation and the conclusions arrived at: 

(1) The top of the levee, 9 to 11 feet above mean low water, is 
below the storm tide of October, 1878, and has been reached in more 
recent years. It is unsafe. Its estimated cost, including sluice, is 
about $6,900 per mile. 

(2) The area of sluice opening is 12.11 square feet, or 1 square foot 
to each 40 acres of drainage area. This is insufficient to properly 
drain the land at times of heavy rainfall or adverse winds. The 
maximum observed discharge was 34.18 second-feet and the corre¬ 
sponding head 0.30 of a foot. The average observed discharge was 
18.61 second-feet. Sluice leakage amounts to 97 per cent of all the 
water discharged. The coefficient of discharge of sluices with 
unweighted flap gates in complete submergence is 0.64. 

(3) The ditches for the most part are so silted and choked that 
adequate storage capacity and proper drainage of the land are pre¬ 
vented. The ditch water (see PI. II, fig. 1) rises twice daily to eleva¬ 
tion 1.6, and in many ditches is virtually held near that elevation. 
In the best ditch (see PI. II, fig. 2) the hydraulic gradient rises to 
about 7 inches per mile, which is fully double what good engineering 
practice would recommend for drainage ditches in tidal marshes. 

(4) The soil will produce good yields of wheat, oats, rye, potatoes, 
and tomatoes, but the uncertainty of crops on the lower areas has led 
to their more extensive use for grass and pasturage. 

(5) The reclamation of the marsh has cost about $54 per acre; 
based on the whole drainage area the cost is about $34 per acre. A 
fair return on the investment is being obtained. 

[Bull. 240] 








30 

MARSH LANDS ON ST. GEORGES CREEK, NEWCASTLE COUNTY, DEL. 

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION. 

These lands comprise an area of about 17.5 square miles, drained 
by St. Georges Creek, Newcastle County, Del. The charter of the 
St. Georges Marsh Co. is dated 1762, and it is probable that the first 
attempts at diking were begun about that date. Except for short 
intervals, the marshes have been exempt from tidal overflow for 
upwards of 148 years. During the record-breaking storm of October, 
1878, the levee was breached, and for a period of about 6 months the 
interior marsh was inundated. The deposit of new soil in that short 
time is said to have had a most beneficial effect upon crops. 


The lands (figs. 9 and 10) have a frontage on the Delaware River 



U5.Dept.of AGRicuLjyjBB. DRAINAGE^ INVESTIGATIONS'- Office of Experiment Stations 

Fig. 10.—Map of drainage area tributary to St. Georges sluice, Delaware City, Del. 


of about 1| miles and extend westerly about 8 miles. St. Georges 
Creek and watershed are crossed by the Delaware and Chesapeake 
Canal, the waters of which are about 7.66 feet above mean low water 
in Delaware River; the creek is conveyed by culvert beneath the 
canal. It is stated that no less than seven different sluices have been 
built since the organization of the company. When found to be too 
small or in poor repair it has been deemed the less expensive to 
abandon them and build anew. 

Some years ago a pumping plant was installed near the present 
sluice at an expense of about $10,000. This project ended in failure, 
but whether because of the volume of water to be handled, the ex¬ 
pense of operation, or the subsidence of the meadows, or a combina¬ 
tion of the three is not now certain. The drainage area tributary to 

[Bull. 240] 






















Plate III. 


U. S. Dept of Agr., Bui. 240, Office Expt. Stations. Drainage Investigations. 



Fig. 1 .—Rock-Facing for Protection of Levee and Foreshore at Half-Tide Level, 
St. Georges Marsh Co., New Castle County, Del., November 1, 1909. 



Fig. 2.—Methods of Levee Protection and Sluice 4 at Low Tide in Maurice 
River, Dorchester, N. J., November 12, 1909. 

[Cord-wood protection is on lands of Alfred H. Lupton; plank bulkhead is on lands of 

Richard Camp.] 








U. 9. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240 


Drainage Investigations. 


Office of Experiment stations. 



pig 9 ( _Map of portion of St. (ieorgea Marsh Co’a. land, Delaware City. Del. 


tv* v.'»vs pcriffj CO 


•ASH: VOTOW o c 


























































































31 


the St. Georges sluice contains 11,192 acres, of which about 2,700 or 
2,800 acres constitute the marsh proper. 

The foreshore averages about 150 feet in width and has generally 
been built up by tidal deposit close to ordinary high-water mark. 
The interior lands show a wide diversity of elevation and vegeta¬ 
tion. Immediately within the levee the marsh generally varies from 
3 to 4 feet above mean low water, but near the creek drops to 2 feet 
or less, and near the southerly boundary rises to 5 feet. 

Going westerly from the river the land becomes lower, and beyond 
the Delaware City-Port Penn Eoad stretch many hundred acres of 
marsh 0.75 to 1 foot above datum, covered with a rank growth of 
reeds and cat-tails and incapable, except when frozen over, of sustain¬ 
ing the weight of a man. Soundings have been made in this marsh 
to a depth of. 40 feet without touching firm bottom. To the north of 
the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal are a number of thousand acres 
drained by Dragon Creek. A considerable portion of this drainage 



was formerly conveyed by the north drain, so called, to the Dela¬ 
ware River, but the breaching of the levee at that point and the 
abandonment of the north sluice have forced this flow to seek an out¬ 
let through the St. Georges sluice. The uplands rise to heights of 
60 to 80 feet above mean low water. 

LEVEE. 

The river levee is about 8,125 feet in length, of which 6,400 feet 
are rock faced. A cross section is shown in figure 11. The top is 
about 8 feet wide and from 10 to 14 feet above mean low water or 
4 to 8 feet above ordinary high water. The slope on the land side 
is about 2^ to 1 and has a firm, well-rooted sod. The top is covered 
with pokeberry and other weeds. The rock facing (see PI. Ill, fig. 
1) rises by a curved batter to a height of 8 feet in a horizontal dis¬ 
tance of 4.4 feet. It is 3^ feet thick at the base and 1 foot at the 
top, and has no foundation other than the natural surface of the 
marsh. It is in good repair. 

[Bull. 240] 

















32 


SLUICE. 

The sluice is about 42 feet long and 36 feet wide. It is divided into 
six flumes each about 2J feet high and 5J feet wide; the aggregate 
area of sluice opening is 80.41 square feet. The floor at the land end 
on the northerly side is 2.30 feet and on the southerly side 2.49 feet 
below datum, which would place the crown of the sluice practically 
at mean low water. Men who assisted in its construction state that the 
floor as built was at mean low water; its settlement, therefore, has 
been about 2J feet. The top and bottom are 2-inch unmatched plank; 
the sides are 6 inches thick. The foundation is stated to be 1-inch 
sheeting cut in 5-foot lengths driven along both sides and ends and 
forming, with a 6-inch by 6-inch mudsill, a complete rectangle. The 
gates are made of 24-incli unmatched plank. 

Two-inch by six-inch cleats about 1 foot from either end of the gate 
are fastened with three-sixteenth-inch carriage bolts, and three bolts 
passing through gate and cleat secure the strap hinges, which are 
three-fourths inch thick, 21 inches wide, and about 2 feet 10 inches 
long. This sluice is said to have been built in 1879 at a cost of 
$3,000. 

Only one complete determination of the discharge of the sluice was 
made. On October 8, 1909, at 12.05 p. m., the interior water stood at 
elevation 1.37; the sluice began to play and continued for 1 hour 28 
minutes, during which time 439,560 cubic feet were discharged. The 
interior water lowered but 0.03 of a foot, though the tide fell from 
elevation 1.37 to 1.05 during the period; had the tide fallen to ordi¬ 
nary low-water stage, the sluice would have played fully twice as 
long a time. The maximum head was 0.23 of a foot; the maximum 
and average rates of discharge were 123.4 and 83.25 second-feet, 
respectively. The coefficient of discharge averaged 0.39. 

The leakage was measured for a period of 2 hours 12 minutes fol¬ 
lowing the closing of the gates, and in that time amounted to the 
enormous quantity of 356,400 cubic feet, or at the average rate of 45 
second-feet. It is highly improbable that the average rate would 
have been less than 45 second-feet had measurements been continued 
over the full period of say 9 hours. Upon that assumption the leak¬ 
age between successive operations of the sluice is seen to be the enor¬ 
mous quantity of 1,458,000 cubic feet or more. The northerly gate 
was in very bad repair and admitted about 36 per cent of the total 
sluice leakage; the next gate southerly admitted 14 per cent; the 
next, 14 per cent; the next, 11 per cent; the next, 8 per cent; and the 
southerly gate about 17 per cent. 

With these conditions of sluice leakage, therefore, is it to be won¬ 
dered that the farmers are discouraged at the agricultural and finan- 
cial showing of the St. Georges marshes? One can but admire the] 

[Bull. 240] 


33 


persistency of the men who in the face of adverse circumstances and 

meager 1 etui ns have kept these works intact for nearly a century 
and a half. 

DITCHES. 

The main creek as far as examined has ample width and depth, 
the bottom generally being from 5 to 6 feet below mean low water. 

< The ditches are filled with cat-tails and other growths and are prac¬ 
tically abandoned. 

CROPS. 


Very little of value is grown upon land which is below an elevation 
of 3 feet. Near the southeasterly corner of the marsh a 9-acre field, 
averaging about 4 feet above mean low water and planted to oats, 
failed entirely. Just westerly was a field having an average eleva¬ 
tion of about 4.5 feet which yielded, it was stated, 2 tons of timothy 
to the acre. 

A wheat field containing 21.G acres yielded 420 bushels, an average 
of nearly 19J bushels per acre; this field was the beginning of the 
uplands and ranged from 4.5 to 11 feet above datum. 

Another containing 28.4 acres near the Port Penn Road, ranging 
from 2 to 13 feet above datum, but the average elevation of which 
was lower than the first wheat field, yielded 480 bushels, or at the 
rate of 16.9 bushels per acre. Corn planted on land 2.5 to 3.5 feet 
above mean low water did not make a satisfactory showing; in places 
it was fair and at other locations in the same field was almost entirely 
lacking. 

Certain lands situated 2 to 3 feet above datum showed excellent 
pasturage. Between elevations 1.5 and 2 there was a varied growth 
of weeds and tall, wiry marsh grass. At elevation 1.3 were many 
acres of three-square sedge, while below elevation 1 there was a rank 
growth of worthless reeds and cat-tails. 

FINANCIAL. 

The amount of money which has been expended upon the St. 
Georges reclamation since its inception can never be determined. It 
is a large sum. An examination of the treasurer’s books shows that 
the company expended the sum of $83,409.13 for construction and 
maintenance of levee and sluices between January 1, 1870, and Janu¬ 
ary 21, 1909. For many years the county of New Castle, in con¬ 
sideration of the protection afforded to several miles of highway, has 
contributed, on an average, about $400 per year toward the main¬ 
tenance of the levee and sluice, while the company’s assessment on the 
marsh owners has yielded, on the average for the last 10 years, about 
100940°— Bull. 240—11-3 



34 


$1,000 per year. A disinterested board of commissioners, elected by 
the stockholders at the annual meeting, fix all valuations and assess¬ 
ments. Assessments become a lien on the marsh land and on the hay, 
stock, or other personal property upon it. 

The cat-tail marshes have a nominal value of $1 per acre. It is 
probable that the levee, facing, and sluice would to-day cost about 
$22,000. Including sluice, this is about $14,300 per mile. 

SUMMARY. 

(1) That there has been a considerable but unknown amount of 
subsidence in the surface of the marsh is highly probable. Many 
hundred acres now covered with reeds and cat-tails can not be drained 
by gravity. The only hope lies in drainage by pumping or in raising 
the land by hydraulic dredging or by the slower process of natural 
deposit by the tide. 

(2) Large areas adjacent to the uplands can be greatly improved, 
either for pasturage or dry-land crops, by checking the extraordinary 
sluice leakage and cleaning and deepening the ditches. 

(3) The clear opening of sluice is 80.41 square feet, or 1 square 
foot to each 130 acres of drainage area. This size is insufficient. 

MARSH LANDS NEAR DORCHESTER, CUMBERLAND COUNTY, N. J. 

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION. 

These lands are situated on the east side of the Maurice River 
about 1 mile north of Dorchester, Maurice River Township, Cumber¬ 
land County, N. J. (See fig. 12.) 

The reclaimed marsh comprises 176.5 acres owned by seven differ¬ 
ent parties. It was first embanked in 1808, but has been out to tide 
at intervals for many years. Its condition as late as the summer of 
1903 is shown in Plate IV, figure 1. 

The present levee was built in part by dredge in 1903, and the 
highway forming the northern boundary of the tract was built the 
same year. (See PI. IV, fig. 2.) The transformation which has 
been wrought by this reclamation is well depicted by the series of 
views shown in Plates IV, V, VI, and VII, figure 1. The contribut¬ 
ing drainage area contains about 2,180 acres, has a frontage on the 
river of 1.2 miles, and extends easterly therefrom about 2J miles. 
Only about 176.5 acres near the river have been put to agricultural 
purposes; the remaining area consists largely of woodland, varying 
from wet and swampy at elevation 3 to hills having summits up¬ 
wards of 50 feet above mean low water. 

The drainage from 2,014 acres is collected by Beaver Brook, which, 
running by tortuous course, is discharged by sluice 2 into the river. 

[Bull. 240] 


U. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240, Office Expt. Stations. Drainage Investigations. 


Plate IV. 



Fig. 1.— At Ordinary High Tide (Twice Daily) July, 1903. 

[Note the lean of the telegraph poles along the old marsh road.] 



Fig. 2.— During New Construction Work, December, 1903. 

[Note the wave or roll of marsh soil along the right toe of embankment and the lean of telegraph 

poles on the left.] 


VIEWS FROM MAURICETOWN BRIDGE, EASTERLY ALONG HIGHWAY, 
DORCHESTER, N. J. MARSH LAND OF ALFRED H. LUPTON IS IN 
THE FOREGROUND ON THE RIGHT; HOWARD COMPTON’S IN THE 
BACKGROUND. 















U. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240, Office Expt. Stations. Drainage Investigations. PLATE V 



Fig. 1.— Plowing on Land 1.2 Feet Above Mean Low Tide in Maurice River, 

November 1 2, 1 909. 



Fig. 2.— Strawberry Field 2.2 Feet Above Mean Low Tide in Maurice River, 

November 2, 1 909. 


MARSH LANDS OF ALFRED H. LUPTON, DORCHESTER, N. J 











































U. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240, Office Expt. Stations. Drainage Investigations. 


Plate VI. 



Fig. 1 .—Ditch System and Protected Fields and Woodland, November 2, 1909. 



Fig. 2.— Stacking Corn Shocks for Winter Feeding, November 12, 1909. 
MARSH LANDS OF HOWARD COMPTON, DORCHESTER, N. J. 




















U. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240, Office Expt. Stations. Drainage Investigations. 


Plate VII. 



Fig. 1.—Corn Fields and 58-Bushel Load of Corn Grown on Land 2 Feet Above 
Mean Low Tide in Maurice River, November 13, 1909. 



Fig. 2.— Levee and Pile and Brush Protection, Maurice River, November 2, 1909. 
MARSH LANDS OF HOWARD COMPTON, DORCHESTER, N. J. 



















u. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240, 


Drainage Investigations 



Mauricetown 

Station 


;'4#MI7WV>^ w Ys'v'' ! v 


W0mmr^ 

• '//'"/A v-. 

'///AyA r- 

. . 






Qeav&fj 






''"✓/'VH 


lwy'AAZr h * . 

Wy&A''' .b K 

..It. L ,11,. I 'V 

I ? j 1 ,.o< 

m&sWW'A/n*' -I'- •’" I*- 
1 " V/ * 

life; b'/yf'/yf'/AA:- $ 


BMM 


Mzmm i 


». *W&%P(p f ?Z l 

fi 


scale: »n feet 


1000 


■EOv 


500 


500 


r«E nohri s f>f :t« co Washington, o . c 


Fig. 12- Map of marsh lands 


near Dorchester, Cumberland County, N. J., owned by Howard Compton, Alfred H. Lupton, and others. 


Methods of 
protecting 
embankments^. 


LEGEND 


Cordwood 


Brush 


Plank 


■ ■ Clcac 

Ditches J-—- Obstructed 

- Underdroins 


• Fesf /Vf 


Ground eJevohons refer to Ion water Maurice Piker 
Oct. 22 *09, which is assumed mean low water 

Average gr xtund water elevations from No* 4 to Dec. 6 *10 


CROPS 


«-. iiS 


Potatoes. 


n —«r —t 
Good Hay Fields. *. ‘ * 

Poor Hay Helds_~ - 

#eeds& Cat Tails 


Office of Experiment Stations. 


U.S.DEPT OF AGRICULTURE—OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS 

DRAINAGE INVESTIGATIONS 

C.G.ELLIOTT,CHIEF 

MAP OF MARSH LANDS 

near Dorchester, Cumberland Co.,N.J. 

Surveyed by GE0R6E M. WARREN, Drainage Engr. 

1909 


•Map showing 

Total Drainage Area (2,160 A ) 
Tributary to tne Five Sluices 
nea- Dorchester, N.J. 

SCALE !N MILES 










































































35 


Forty-nine acres belonging to Howard Compton in the southeast¬ 
erly part of the tract are generally 2 to 3 feet above datum. 

Near the center of the marsh is a low return bank, extending from 
the river levee to the highway. To the westerly of this return bank 
is the 91-acre farm of Alfred IT. Lupton, which varies from 1 to 3.5 
feet above datum, and to the easterly are parcels of 12.4 acres, 12.1 
acres, and 5.4 acres, owned by Richard Camp, Charles T. Grassman, 
and George Blisard, respectively. 

The Camp tract is from 1.75 to 3 feet above datum, the Grassman 
from 1.5 to 1.9, and the Blisard from 1.5 to 2. 

In the northeasterly corner of the marsh, is a parcel of 4 acres 
belonging to D. W. Boggs and varying from 1.5 to 2 feet above 
datum. A triangular-shaped parcel of 2.4 acres near the southeast¬ 
erly corner, belonging to Eliza West, is from 3 to 3.5 feet above 
datum. 

The interior lands at the river levee are generally from 2.5 to 3.5 
feet above datum. Going from the river the land falls about 1 foot 
in a distance of 600 feet, at which approximate distance the lowest 
area, is usually found. This low marsh varies from elevation 1 foot 
or less on land of Lupton to 2.5 feet on the better parts of the Comp¬ 
ton land, but probably averages about 1.7 feet above datum. From 
this low area the marsh rises gradually as we go northerly to the 
highway or easterly to the woodland. 

TIDES. 

There being no established bench marks in the vicinity of Dor¬ 
chester which were known to be referred to mean low water, the 
height of the tide at 8.57 a. m., October 2, was arbitrarily chosen as 
such datum. 

At that time it was the belief of those familiar with the Maurice 
River that an average low tide prevailed, and it was assumed as 
mean low water. 

The mean range observed was 5.62 feet. 

From the testimony of citizens it is probable that extreme high 
water is about elevation 7.62; the lowest tide observed was —1, on 
November 11. 

The flood continued for about 6 hours 11 minutes and the ebb for 
6 hours 19 minutes. 

The vertical movement of the tides averaged about 0.9 of a foot 
per hour; at half tide it was about 1.1 feet per hour, and about 1J 
hours before low and at the time when the sluices generally would 
begin to play it was about 0.7 of a foot per hour. The Maurice 
River at this point, about 11 miles by water from Delaware Bay, is 
only slightly brackish. 

[Bull. 240] 


36 


SOIL AND SUBSOIL. 

The soil is a stiff, grayish, silty clay often mottled in appearance, 
and all tests with blue litmus paper showed more or less pronounced 
acid reaction. Tilled and with the humus incorporated in it, it has a 
very dark-brown color and possesses great fertility. This stratum of 
silty clay varies in thickness from a few inches near the woodland to 
probably as much as 10 or 12 feet at the levee. 

Tests made in 1902 along the line of the highway leading to 
Mauricetown by Mr. D. W. Boggs, civil engineer, and at points indi¬ 
cated on the plan (see fig. 12, p. 34) show a firm, gritty bottom at 
depths of from 9 to 57 feet below the surface of the marsh. These 
soundings were made with small-sized wrought-iron pipes, and one or 
two men had no difficulty in pushing the pipe by hand to the depths 
shown on the plan. Mr. Boggs found that in general the stratifica¬ 
tion was as follows: For the first 10 or 12 feet, a grayish, silty clay 
through which the pipe went without any great difficulty^; for the 
next 8 feet a very soft mud and slime through which the pipe would 
almost drop by reason of its own weight; for the next 6 feet a par¬ 
tially decomposed vegetable deposit offering a somewhat greater re¬ 
sistance to the pipe than the last-mentioned stratum. Continuing 
downward the 8-foot and 6-foot layers as just described were en¬ 
countered in rotation to the firm bottom. 

The inability of this marsh soil to sustain any considerable load is 
well illustrated by the happenings during and subsequent to the time 
of construction of the new highway. 

In a total distance of about 5,100 feet the estimated quantity of sand 
filling required for this highway was about 42,000 cubic yards. The 
quantity actually taken from the borrow pits and placed in this em¬ 
bankment to bring it to the established grade was 139,125 cubic yards. 
Ninety-seven thousand one hundred and twenty-five cubic yards, 
therefore, represented the compression and displacement of the marsh 
soil beneath the base of the roadway up to the time of the completion 
of the construction work in 1903. Since that time a further settle¬ 
ment equivalent to 10,000 cubic yards has taken place, so that at pres¬ 
ent, of the 139,125 cubic yards of sand deposited, 107,125 cubic yards 
are below the surface of the marsh and only 32,000 cubic yards are 
above. 

This large settlement and displacement has taken place over a strip 
of marsh approximately 5,100 feet long and 51 feet wide, and where 
the anticipated load was not over 1,100 pounds per square foot. 

Plate IV, figure 2, shows how, under the weight of the embankment 
and construction trains, a wave or roll of marsh soil 7 to 8 feet in 
height was created along each toe, and how the bottoms of the tele- 

[Bull. 240] 


U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bui. 240 


Drainage Investigations. 


Office of Experiment Stations. 



^Door hard pine 
3"rhick 





































































































































































































































37 


graph poles were pushed away from the fill. It is said that on one 
occasion the embankment and construction cars settled 7 feet in a 
single night, and that piles 72 feet in length were driven to support 
the West Jersey & Seashore Railroad track over Beaver Brook. A 
water-bearing sand shows in the bottom of the ditch along the edge 
of the woodland near the southeasterly corner of the Compton marsh. 


LEVEE. 

Six cross sections of the river levee are shown in figure 13, A, B, C, 
D, E, and F. There is no foreshore, as may be seen from Plate VII, 
figure 2. 

The top width of the levee averages about 5.5 feet and its elevation 
from 8 to 9.5 feet above datum. 

The slopes and the methods of shore protection vary greatly. On 
the Compton land both slopes are about 2-| to 1, and protection (see 
PI. VII, fig. 2) on the river side is afforded by a double line of 5-inch 
to 6-inch piles, the intervening space, about 18 inches, being filled 
with brush; to the inside face of the inner row of piles is spiked a 
2-inch plank bulkhead up to above extreme high water. Levee and 
protection are in a fair state of repair. 

On the Camp land both levee and protection (see PI. Ill, fig. 2 
and fig. 13A) are in bad condition. The guard has been riddled by 
the waves, which work under, through, and over it, and are rapidly 
washing away the levee. The slopes are steep and irregular and cov¬ 
ered with pokeberry and other weeds. 

At times considerable seepage was noticed through the levee be¬ 
tween sluices 2 and 3 and contiguous to the only area of three-square 
sedge on the marsh. 

On the Lupton land both levee and protection (see PI. Ill, fig. 2) 
are in fair condition. Erosion by the river is prevented by a 3^ to 
4 foot pile of cordwood, laid butt ends to the river and weighted 
with stone; the outer face, battering about 4^ inches to the foot, is 
supported by a 12-inch longitudinal log or mudsill. On portions 
of the levee there is a fair stand of grass. 

It is stated by old bankmen that the brush facing makes a good 
protection; that because of its yielding nature it breaks up waves 
and swells and escapes injury better than a more solid bulkhead, and 
has the added advantage of being easily and cheaply repaired. 

[Bull. 240] 


38 


SLUIOES. 

Five sluices vent the interior waters. The size, length, grade, and 
tributary drainage area of these sluices are shown in the following 
table: 


Size, length, grade, and tributary drainage area of sluices at Dorchester, N. J. 


Sluice. 

Clear 

opening. 

Length. 

Elevation river 
end. 

Elevation land 
end. 

Tributary- 

drainage 

area. 

Crown. 

Floor. 

Crown. 

Floor. 


Sq.ft. 

Feet. 

Foot. 

Feet. 

Foot. 

Feet. 

Acres. 

1. 

2.57 

41.4 

-0.03 

-1.05 

0. 05 

-0.97 

46.8 

2. 

8. 33 

48.5 

.53 

-1.03 

-.35 

-1.91 

2,014. 0 

3. 

2. 61 

32.6 

.36 

- .68 

.31 

- .73 

28.0 

4. 

4.29 

38.6 

.05 

- .96 

-.04 

-1.05 

91.2 

5. 

5. 56 

46.2 

— .17 

— 1. 86 

. 13 

—1. 56 











The foundation of sluice 1 consists of 4 lines of Jersey-pine sheet 
idling 4 feet long and 2 inches thick approximately trisecting the 
length of the sluice. (See fig. 13F.) The foundations of the other 
sluices are believed to be similar. 

Generally the sides are 3-inch hard pine and top and bottom 2-inch 
unmatched Jersey pine spiked to the side pieces. 

The gates vary from 1J to 3 inches in thickness of single unmatched 
plank and are held in place by two J-inch chains, playing over 
wooden blocking G inches to 14 inches in height, set up on the roof 
of the sluice at its extreme outer end. (See PI. Ill, fig. 2.) The 
chains are fastened to the top edge of the gate and to the roof of the 
sluice by one-half-inch iron staples G inches in length. It is stated 
that gates hung in this manner are not so liable to become obstructed 
as are some other styles on account of the wide opening along the 
upper edge when the sluice is in operation. 

Sluice 2 is the only one which is badly out of level, the land end 
being about 10J inches lower than the river end, and laterally the 
easterly side is about 3 inches lower than the westerly. None of the 
sluices are doing the work they should. The gates, to insure closing, 
are heavily weighted, which gives low coefficients of discharge, and 
their poor mechanical construction is responsible for large leakage 
from the river. The average head under which they operated was 
found to be about two-thirds of the maximum head. 

The table following shows the average length of time sluices play, 
average discharge to river and coefficient of discharge, leakage from 
river, and leakage divided by discharge, expressed in percentages. 

[Bull. 240] 

























U. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240, Office Expt. Stations. Drainage Investigations. 


Plate VIII. 



Fig. 1.—Main Ditch Leading to Sluice 1, Marsh Lands of Howard Compton, 

Dorchester, N. J., November 2, 1909. 



Fig. 2.—Clearing and Burning Brush and Stumps in Cedar Swamp, Marsh Lands 
OF THE MAURICETOWN BANKING CO., MAURICETOWN, N. J., DECEMBER 18, 1909. 







































































































' 






























39 


Leakage and discharge from sluices. 


Number of sluice. 

Average 
length of 
time sluice 
plays. 

Average 
discharge 
to river. 

Average 
coeffi¬ 
cient of 
discharge. 

Approxi¬ 
mate leak¬ 
age from 
river be¬ 
tween clos¬ 
ing and 
opening. 

Leakage 
divided by 
discharge. 

1. 

Ilrs. min. 

2 04 

3 32 

1 24 

49 

34 

Cu.ft. 
18,431 
74,048 
8,400 
0) 

0) 

0.36 
.39 
.43 

0) 

Q) 

Cu. f t. 
15,650 
33,580 
6,740 
0) 

8,960 

Per cent. 

85 

45 

80 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 





1 Not taken. 


DITCHES. 

Interior drainage is effected by about 2,423 rods of open ditches, 
varying in width from 2 to 24 feet and in depth from 1 foot to 3.5 
feet. On the Compton land the ditches are generally of trapezoidal 
cross section; the sides are neatly trimmed, and the bottoms and sides 
are free from obstructing vegetable growths. 

The main ditch (see PI. VIII, fig. 1) leading to sluice 1, which 
takes the drainage from some 47 acres of land on the south side of 
Beaver Brook, is 19 feet Avide at the top, 10 feet at the bottom, and 
about 3.5 feet deep. The bottom is little above the floor of the sluice 
and would probably average about 0.75 of a foot below datum. 

The lateral ditches divide the lands into irregular quadrilaterals, 
averaging about 1J acres each. These ditches average about 5 feet 
wide, and their bottoms are from 0.5 of a foot below datum in the 
ditches near the river to 1.2 feet above mean low water in the ditch 
next the woodland. There are about 2,000 lineal feet of underdrains 
of wooden construction. Beaver Brook, draining 2,014 acres, flows 
by winding course and between slightly raised banks through the 
land of Compton and Camp and is discharged by sluice 2 into the 
river. From the railroad to the river this brook averages about 18 
feet wide and 4 feet deep at the center. The bed is rough and unclean 
and from 1 to 3 feet above the floor of sluice 2. The brook water at 
the sluice is ordinarily lowered about 2.85 feet during the period of 
sluice action. At the railroad culvert, half a mile away, the fall is 
usually not more than 1 inch. 

North of Beaver Brook the Compton land is somewhat lower and 
the ditches are shallower and subdivide the lands into lots of about 
2 acres each. The drainage from this land is received into Beavei 
Brook through a small sluice 12 inches by 14 inches, situated about 
300 feet northeasterly from sluice 2. 

The ditches on the Camp, Grassman, Blisard, and Boggs lands 
are in poor condition. Not only are they badly choked with wild 

[Bull. 240’J 





















40 


oats and other grasses, but are much too shallow to properly drain 
the land. Their bottoms would probably average at least a foot 
above the floor of sluice 3, to which they drain. Their average 
width is about 4 feet. 

The main ditch on the westerly side of Camp’s land is about G 
feet in width and 2 feet in depth; its storage capacity in the vicin¬ 
ity of the sluice is entirely inadequate, and two artificial barriers 
greatly diminish its usefulness even as a conducting channel. 

The lateral ditches subdivide the Camp lands into 3 fields of about 
4 acres each, Grassman’s land into G fields of about 2 acres each, 
and Blisard’s into 4 fields of about 1J acres each. Bogg’s area of 4 
acres is undivided. 

The Lupton farm is the lowest of the entire tract. It is a self- 
contained area of about 91 acres, free from all upland drainage 
and subdivided by ditches into fields, averaging about 5 acres in 
area each. 

The main ditch leading to sluice 5 is from 11 to 24 feet in width 
and from 2 to 3 feet in depth; its bottom is from 1 to 1.5 feet below 
datum. In general the bottoms of all the ditches on this farm are 
from 0.5 of a foot to 1 foot below mean low water and are free from 
vegetable growths and serious obstructions. The laterals average 8 
feet in width. The ditch water seldom rises more than 5 to G inches 
above mean low water, though sluices 4 and 5 play but for short- 
periods and very frequently not at all. The difference in elevation 
of the water in the various ditches is shown by the table below: 


Ordinary elevation of ditch water at opening and closing of sluices, and entire 

fall. 


Number of sluice. 

Owner of land. 

Ordinary elevation 
ditch water. 

Fall. 

When 

gates 

open. 

When 

gates 

close. 

1. 

Compton. 

Feet. 

1.55 

3.00 

1.10 

.13 

Foot. 

0.15 
.15 
.10 
.06 

Feet. 

1.40 

2.85 

1.00 

.07 

2. 

Camp. 

3 . 

.do. 

4,5. 

Lupton... . 




The areas of the different marshes, length and storage capacity 
(between M. L. W. and elevation of lowest part of tract being con¬ 
sidered) of ditches, and ratio of superficial area of ditches to marsh, 
are noted in the table following. 

[Bull. 240] 


























HIGHWAY 
































































































































































































































































































































































41 


Ditch data, etc., for marsh lands near Dorchester, N. J. 


Owner. 

Area of 
marsh. 

Length of ditches. 

Storage capacity. 

Ratio of 
ditch and 
marsh 
areas. 

Total. 

Per acre. 

Total. 

Per acre. 

Compton south of brook. 

Compton north of brook. 

Blisard. 

Acres. 
22.6 
26. 4 
5.4 
12.1 
12. 4 
91.2 

Feet. 

8,754 
6,385 
2,095 
4,614 
2,900 
15, 230 

Feet. 

387 
242 

388 
381 
234 
167 

Cu.ft. 
88,970 
26,426 
10,662 
21,561 
16,995 
108, 747 

Cu.ft. 
3,937 
1,001 
1,975 
1,782 
1,371 
1,192 

4.5 :100 
1.8 :100 
3.1 :100 
3.0 :100 
2. 4 :100 
3.0 :100 

Grassman. 

Camp. 

Lupton. 


RAINFALL AND GROUND WATER. 

The month of October, 1909, was exceptionally cool and dry 
throughout New Jersey, the rainfall being generally less than for 
any October in the past 25 years except in 1892. Judging by the re¬ 
corded rainfall at three places in the vicinity, it is probable that the 
precipitation at Dorchester was about 1.5 inches for the month, nearly 
all of which came in three rains, approximating one-half inch each 
on the 12tli, 15th, and 24th. Little rain fell in November until 
the 8th. 

Seventeen test pits for purposes of observation on the ground water 
were dug. Their position is shown on the plan (see fig. 12). Four 
were in a north and south line (M-N) near the eastern side of the 
Lupton farm. Seven were in a nearly parallel line (O-P) on Camp, 
Grassman, and Blisard lands; and six were southerty of Beaver 
Brook on lands of Compton and Mrs. West (Q-R). 

The positions of the ground water on November 4, 8, and 25 are 
shown in figure 14. On November 8 it was the lowest observed for 
a period of nearly one and one-half months. During the night of 
November 8, about 0.22 of an inch of rain fell, raising the water table 
about 0.18 of a foot in land of Camp, Grassman, and Blisard, but 
only 0.0G of a foot in Compton’s land. 

On the 23d and 24th of November about 2.2 inches of rain fell, 
raising the ground water about a foot at most of the test pits. W hile 
this storm caused the ground water to rise to the surface and com¬ 
pletely saturate the marsh of Camp, Grassman, and Blisard, the 
lands of Compton and Lupton were firm under the foot and about 
5 inches above the water table. 

[Bull. 240] 
























42 


Positions of ground water on November 8 and 25, the lowest and highest 

observed. 





Ground water. 


Profile. 

Date. 

Approxi¬ 
mate ele¬ 
vation 
above 

M. L. W. 

Approxi¬ 
mate dis¬ 
tance 
below 
surface of 
ground. 

M-N. 

1909. 
Nov. 8 

Feet. 

0.12 

Inches. 

17 

O-P. 

Nov. 8 

.68 

13 

Q-R. 

Nov. 8 

.82 

22i 

5 

M-N. 

Nov. 25 

1.11 

O-P. 

Nov. 25 

1.75 

0 

Q-R. 

Nov. 25 

2.27 

5 




The distance from the surface of the marsh to the ground water, 
taking the average of all gaugings made at the several test pits from 
November 4 to December G, was as follows: 


Feet. 

Upon land of Compton_1. 39 

Upon land of West_1. 22 

Upon land of Lupton_1.14 

Upon land of Grassman_ . 88 

Upon land of Camp_ . 82 

Upon land of Blisard_ . 75 


From that which has preceded, it is clear: 

(1) That the deeper, cleaner character and greater proportional 
storage capacity of the ditches on Compton’s marsh, notwithstanding 
their interception of considerable ground water near the south¬ 
easterly corner of the tract, made possible, at the end of one and one- 
third months during which about 1.5 inches of rain fell, an average 
depth of soil above the water table of 22J inches. 

(2) That the deeper, cleaner character of the ditches on Lupton’s 
marsh, notwithstanding the low elevation of the land and compara¬ 
tively small storage capacity of the ditches themselves, made possible 
an average depth of soil above the water table of IT inches. 

(3) That the shallow, choked ditches on the marsh of Camp, Grass- 
man, and Blisard, notwithstanding fair elevation of the tracts and 
slight drainage from the uplands, could not make possible a greater 
average depth of soil above the water table than 13 inches. 

The marsh of Mr. Boggs is unimproved and the water stood prac¬ 
tically at the surface of the ground at all times. The single test pit 
near the center of Mrs. West’s lot showed the ground water with very 
slight variations at elevation 1.95. Just east of this test pit at the 
edge of the woods the water table varied little from 5 inches below 
the surface of the ground. 

[Bull. 240] 


» 

























43 


It is obvious that a run of low tides produces a corresponding low¬ 
ering of the water table and that a series of high tides, by increasing 
the leakage and seepage, produces a corresponding rise. In passing 
from the former conditions of the tide to the latter, the interior 
ground water very frequently was found to be rising near the levee 
while still falling in the remote parts. 

At test pits considerably removed from the ditches it was found that 
a rise or fall of the ground water might follow the tides which pro¬ 
duced the movement by from one to three days. Under the influence 
of a low run of tides and favorable weather the ground water may fall 
from 1 to 3 inches per day adjacent to the levee, 4 to 1 inch near the 
center of the marsh, and from 0 to 1 inch at the more remote parts. 

It is very probable from the studies made that in the long run the 
water table is very close to a mean between the surface of the ditch 
water at the opening and at the closing of a sluice. 

CROPS AND THEIR VALUE. 

The principal crops are corn, hay, strawberries, and potatoes. In 
1909 1G.4 acres of Compton land produced 2,235 bushels of corn in 
the ear, an average of 13G bushels per acre. These fields varied from 
2 to 3 feet above datum. The best yield was 2G5 bushels from an 
area of 1.1 acres, averaging 3 feet above datum, which is at the rate 
of 241 bushels per acre. The poorest yield was 300 bushels from 3.9 
acres near the southeast corner of the tract, where, from the inflow 
of upland ground water, the marsh had until recently been too soft to 
permit of working with horses. (See PI. YI, fig. 2, and PI. VII, 
%. i.) 

Twenty-four acres of grass land yielded about 48 tons of timothy, 
red clover, and herd’s grass, or an average of 2 tons per acre. This 
land varied from 1.6 to 4 feet above mean low water. The best yield 
is stated to have been in excess of 4 tons of timothy and red clover 
from a field which was found to contain 1.2 acres and its elevation to 
be about 3 feet above datum. 

Three and five-tenths acres in potatoes yielded 300 bushels, which 
was stated by the foreman to have been about one-half an ordinary 
crop. 

In 1907 an area of 0.55 of an acre 3 feet above datum yielded 150 
crates of 32 quarts each Shropshire strawberries, which sold for $2 
per crate; $1.40 must be deducted for crate, picking, freight, and 
commissions, leaving a profit of over $1G3 per acre, less the cost of 
raising. In the same year 9 acres, set out in 1905 with Gandy Prize 
strawberry plants, cleared over $1,G00, or about $180 per acre. In 
190G 4 acres yielded 527 crates of Gandy Prize strawberries, which 
cleared over $600, or about $150 per acre. The last two parcels of 
land were from 2.5 to 4 feet above datum. 

[Bull. 240] 


44 


The Camp land, 12.4 acres, is largely covered with weeds and 
three-square sedge. The middle lot produced a small quantity of 
inferior hay, probably not exceeding $25 in value. 

The Grassman land, 12.1 acres, probably did not yield on the 
average more than a ton of inferior hay to the acre, worth from $5 
to $8 per ton; the easterly lots are covered with weeds and tussocks. 

The Blisard land, 5.4 acres, is estimated to yield about 3 tons of 
herd’s grass, worth $8 per ton, and to furnish about $30 worth of 
pasturage per year. The two easterly lots are covered with weeds 
and tussocks. 

The Boggs land, 4 acres, is covered with cat-tails, weeds and brush; 
it is producing nothing of value. 

The land of Mrs. West is producing about 3 tons of rough hay 
and tussocks, worth perhaps $6.50 per ton. 

Mr. Lupton estimated the 1909 yield of his cornfield at 1,000 
bushels; it contained 9 acres and its elevation varied from 1.3 to 
3.8 feet above datum. Four and four-tenths acres of strawberries 
(see PI. V, fig. 2), about 2.2 feet above datum, yielded 170 crates 
which brought $467.50, but this is probably much below the ordinary 
crop. It is conservatively estimated that the remainder of the 
Lupton farm, 77.6 acres, produced an average of 2 tons of hay to 
the acre. Inside the levee, fields ranging from 1.5 to 2.4 feet above 
datum are said to have yielded 3 to 4 tons of timothy and red clover 
to the acre. When visited late in October there was still a fine 
growth of red clover. Four lots near the center of the farm contain 
12.7 acres ranging from 0.9 to 1.2 feet above datum. The rough 
grass upon this area was sold standing for $30. 

Summarized, the value of the 1909 crops at market quotations 
would be as follows: 


Value of 1909 crops at market quotations from 172.5 acres of marsh lands at 

Dorchester, N. J. 


Compton, 49 acres: 

Corn, 2,235 bushels, at $0.35 per bushel_ $782. 25 

Hay, 48 tons, at $16 per ton_ 768. 00 

Potatoes, 300 bushels, at $0.70 per busliel__ 210. 00 

Pasturage_ 50. 00 

Miscellaneous_ 50. 00 


Revenue per acre, $37.96. 

Camp, 12.4 acres: 

Hay- 25. 00 


Revenue per acre, $2.02. 

Grassman, 12.1 acres: 

Hay, 12 tons, at $6.50 per ton_ 7S. 00 


$1, 860. 25 


25. 00 


Revenue per acre $6.45. 
[Bull. 240] 


78.00 










45 

Blisard, 5.4 acres: 

Hay, 3 tons, at $8 per ton_ $24. 00 

Pasturage- 30 . 00 

- $54.00 

Revenue per acre, $10. 

West, 2.4 acres: 

Hay, 3 tons, at $6.50 per ton_ 19. 50 

- 19.50 

Revenue per acre, $S.13. 

Lupton, 91.2 acres: 

Corn, 1,000 bushels, at $0.35 per bushel___ 350. 00 

Hay, 155 tons, at $14 per ton_2,170. 00 

Strawberries, 170 crates, at $2.75 per crate- 467. 50 

Miscellaneous_ 100. 00 ’ 

- 3, 087. 50 

Revenue per acre, $33.85. 

Total- 5 ,124. 25 

VALUE OF LANDS. 

Unembanked these marshes had merely a nominal value. The gun¬ 
ning and trapping privileges might have created a value of $5 per 
acre; agriculturally, they were worthless. After embanking in 1808, 
transfers were made at $34 per acre. At the present time the 
assessed valuations range from $10 to $50 per acre, according to ele¬ 
vation and the amount, of improvement. Upon this basis the value 
of these lands is as follows: 

Value of marsh lands near Dorchester, N. J. 

High marsh, 50 acres, at $50 per acre_$2, 500 

Low marsh, 90 acres, at $20 per acre_ 1, 800 

Low marsh, 36.5 acres, at $10 per acre_ 365 

Total_ 4, 665 

Property transfers and the testimony of competent appraisers 
would indicate that market values are about $10 per acre more than 
those above stated. This would make the fair market value of these 
marshes, exclusive of protected woodlands, $6,430. 

The woodland is assessed for $3 to $5 per acre, but some of the best 
groves of cedar are worth $400 or $500 per acre. 

The cost of effecting this reclamation is given below in some detail, 
so that the cost of the different classes of work can be compared. 

Estimated cost. 

Embankment: 

River embankment, 6,250 lineal feet, at 

$0.80 per foot_$5, 000. 00 

Return bank (Compton’s), 565 lineal 

feet, at $0.50 per foot- 282. 50 

Return bank (Lupton’s), 1,450 lineal 

feet, at $0.25 per foot- 362. 50 

-$5, 645. 00 

[Bull. 240] 





















46 


Shore protection: 

Brush, 2,100 linear feet, at $0.32 per foot_ $072. 00 
Cordwood, 1,300 linear feet, at $0.90 per 

foot_ 1,170. 00 

Plank, 850 linear feet, at $0.40 per foot_ 340. 00 

■- $2,182. 00 

Ditches, 2,423 linear rods, at $0.00 per rod_ 1, 453. 80 

- 1, 453. SO 

Sluices: 

No. 1 (actual cost)_ 03.32 

No. 2_ 140. 00 

No. 3_ 00. 00 

No. 4_ 90. 00 

No. 5_ 110. 00 

- 403.32 

Underdrains, 2,500 linear feet, at $0.05 per foot_ 125. 00 

Allowance for contingencies, 5 per cent- 493. 45 


Total_ 10,302.57 


SUMMARY. 


As a result of the study of this reclamation, deductions may be 
made as follows: 

(1) The soil will produce good yields of corn, hay, strawberries, 
and vegetables. Still better results would be obtained by the use of 
lime to correct the acidity of the soil and by improving the drainage 
conditions. Corn averages about 130 bushels and hay about 2 tons 
per acre. 

(2) The marsh will not sustain any considerable weight without 
large settlement and displacement. 

(3) Those tracts which have the deepest, cleanest, and most ca¬ 
pacious ditches are the best drained and are making the best agri¬ 
cultural and financial showing. 

(4) The sluices have coefficients of discharge varying from 0.36 to 
0.43. From 45 to 85 per cent of the water discharged is leakage 
through the sluices from the river. 

(5) Those tracts having less than 1 foot of soil above the water 
table generally are producing little of value. 

(6) The height of the water table is about a mean between the 
heights of the ditch water before and after the sluices play. 

(7) On the basis of the marsh thus far utilized, this reclamation 
has cost about $59 per acre. The estimated cost is $10,362.57, and 
the yearly income from the lands about $5,124.25. The fair market 
value of the 176.5 acres of marsh land to-day is $6,430. The levee, 
including sluices, cost about $6,370 per mile. 

[Bull. 240] 















U. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240 


Drainage Invest.gatlons. 


Office of Experiment Stations 



U S DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE — OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATION 


DRAINAGE. INVESTIGATIONS 

C.G ELLIOTT,CHIEF 


MAP OF 

MAURICETOWN BANKING CO. LAND 


Mauricetown, Cumberland County, N. J 

Compiled from map loaned by Mauricetown Banking Co 
and from survey by 

GEORGE M WARREN, Drainage Engineer 

1909 

SCALE IN FEET 


m 


mm 


mmm 


LEGEND 


WaterCourses and OW Ditches 


Levee with Brush Protection . 
Surface Elevation above M.L W V 


Wheat & Timothy 


Weeds 


j.-jp t5.-M»p of Ji.-iurlcetown Banking Co.’» land, Mnrtrieetown, Cumberland Countv N J 





























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































47 

MARSH LAND NEAR MAURICETOWN, CUMBERLAND COUNTY, N. J. 

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION. 

The lands of this company are situated on the westerly side of the 
Maurice River, northerly from Mauricetown, Commercial Township, 
Cumberland County, N. J. (See fig. 15.) 

They were first embanked about 100 years ago, but some 32 years 
ago, after the levee had become breached in a number of places, were 
practically abandoned until April, 1906. At the latter date embank¬ 
ing was again undertaken. A 1-cubic-yard orange-peel dredge placed 
about two-thirds of the material over the whole length of the levee, 
about 3 miles. The work was finished with a three-fourths-yard 
dredge of the same type. 

The contributing drainage area contains about 3,635 acres, of 
which 459 acres constitute the marsh proper. The drainage from 
about 2,000 acres, collected in Steep Run, so called, is discharged 
through sluices 8 and 9 into the river. The drainage from 822 acres, 
collected by a brook just northerly of the village of Mauricetown, is 
discharged by sluice 1. 

The remainder of the drainage area, 813 acres, furnishes the dis¬ 
charge for seven sluices; of these, sluice 7 is the only one which 
receives directly any considerable amount of upland drainage. Col¬ 
lectively, 5 sluices receive, through crooked and obstructed natural 
watercourses, the drainage from an old cedar swamp of about 170 
acres. (See PI. VIII, fig. 2.) 

Immediately within the levee the marsh is generally from 3.5 to 4 
feet above datum. The lowest area is adjacent to the bluff, where 
the ground ranges from 2 to 3 feet above datum. 

The bluff marking the western limit of the marsh is 10 to 15 feet 
in height, and beyond the drainage area rises to heights of 50 feet or 
more above mean low water. The rise and fall of the tide is about 
5.2 feet, and all levels are referred to the same datum as used on the 
Dorchester work. 

SOIL AND SUBSOIL. 

Beneath a thin layer of vegetable mold the soil is a plastic silty 
clay, generally grayish in color, and often mottled. Both the soil 
and soil water have a decided acid reaction. The deposit of new 
soil between 1877 and 1906, a period of 29 years, during which the 
tide was free to flood the marsh, is plainly observable along the sides 
of newly dug ditches. Its thickness ranges from 6 inches to 30 
inches, and would probably average about 2 feet. Along the sides 
of ditches which had been opened a considerable length of time 
there was a fringe of tussocks and grasses growing from the cleavage 

[Bull. 240] 


48 


line between the top of the marsh of 1877 and the bottom of the 
superimposed layer. 

The downstream side of points of land projecting toward the 
river are higher and the deposit of new mud is thicker than on the 
upstream side. Beneath the decomposing vegetable matter marking 
the top of the marsh of 1877, the deposit of silty clay continues to a 
greater or less depth. A number of soundings, near the levee, were 
made into it a distance of 8 or 10 feet, but adjacent to the bluff it is 
much thinner. 

Of the inherent fertility, the apparently inexhaustible supply of 
plant food in this soil, there can be little question. The oxidation 
and conversion into humus of its organic matter, the improvement of 
its structural condition, is the most that is necessary to render these 
lands extremely productive, and this result can be obtained by 
thorough drainage and tillage. A sample of this soil, No. 23016, 
which was recently examined by the Bureau of Soils had a total salt 
content of 350 parts in 100,000, mainly sulphates and chlorids. Tests 
by the Yeitch method showed that 19,600 pounds of lime would be 
required to fully neutralize the acidity in 1 acre of soil to a depth 
of 1 foot. Proper drainage and aeration of the land would, of course, 
greatly reduce the lime requirement. 

LEVEE. 

The levee was built by dredge operating from the river side. A 
typical section is shown in figure 16 A, and cross sections at sluices 1 
and 7 are shown in figure 16 B and C. 

The channel cut by the dredge is about 31 feet wide and 4.5 to 5 
feet in depth, and was made in the foreshore at that point, which is 
about half-tide level. There is a 9-foot berm between the channel 
and the levee. The levee is about 28 feet wide at the base, 5 feet at 
the top, and 5 feet high. The top is generally about 9 feet above 
mean low water; this is about 3J feet above mean high water and 
14 feet above extreme high water. 

The top and slopes of the levee are rough and irregular and covered 
with a thick growth of weeds. No attempt has been made to dress 
the slopes and secure a stand of grass, but the material is as it was 
deposited from the buckets. 

The bank protection which covers about two-thirds of the 3J miles 
of levee, consists of a double row of 4-inch oak piles, spaced about 
24 feet longitudinally and 1J feet transversely, the intervening space 
being filled with brush. 

The piles are from 8 to 13 feet in length and were driven by a 
gang of three men. Two men with linemen’s climbing irons would 
put their weight to a pile while the third, by a rotary motion, quickly 

[Bull. 240] 



hw+— -.-7—*?- - 

'—,4 to 5 Piles placed 
s' \t about tto{ longitudinally 


£1.6,7 3 


Extreme H W? 62 Maurice ft. 


Original Surface of Marsh 




«S^ -V 


^■r-r 




Channel cut by dredge 


M.L.W. 




B-Section through Sluice I 


£ xtremk $J%_ 
Mean H W.5.62 






£Z4&L 


£14/0 


SS*>" X 


7. * Sheeh/ 


~2"5heeting 


Sides ofSluice 3 Georgia hard Pine 


SLUICE 1-39/8 long * 3d’wide * 14%?high (inside) 


EJJU? 


2 Jersey Pine 


-About 6‘ 


C-Section through Sluice 7 


"to 5' Piles placed 
about 2% f to t longirudi 


£1869 


ExtrerrteH. kV 7.\ 


Mean MM 5.62 


Sides of Sluice S "Georgia hard Pine 


EL 006 


SLUICE 7 - 420 longy2i'£wide *12%'hjgh (insidej 


y2 Jersey Pi, 


GEORGE M WARREN, DRAINAGE ENGINEER 


u. 8 . Dept, of Agr., Bui 240 , 


Drainage Investigations. 


Office of Experiment Stations, 


A-Typical Section 


Fig. 16.—Sections of levee and sluices, Mauricetown Banking Co., Maui icetown, N. J. 


THE NORRIS PETERS CO-, \UASH INOTON , E C 




































































































































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„ 

•» ’ 










- ■ 


--S * 










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. 














































































49 


worked it downward. It is stated that these piles cost about 5 cents 
each delivered on the work, and that three men have put down as 
many as TOO in a day. 

I he protection is insufficient in extent and lacking in strength. 
In places the waves are working under the brush, and at other points 
over it. The destructive effects to the levee at and above mean high- 
water level are clearly seen in figure 15, A, B, and C. At still other 
points the entire protection is practically destroyed. It is stated that 
there were twenty-five breaches in the old levee which required piling 
in order to close them. 

SLUICES. 

Ten sluices vent the interior waters. The size, length, grade, and 
approximate tributary drainage area of these sluices are shown in 
the following table: 


Size, length, grade, and approximate tributary drainage area of 10 sluices at 

Mauricetown, N. J. 


Sluice. 

Clear 

opening. 

Length. 

Elevation river end. 

Elevation land end. 

Approxi¬ 

mate 

drainage 

area. 

Crown. 

Floor. 

Crown. 

Floor. 


Sq.ft. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Acres. 

1 . 

2.97 

39.8 

0.99 

-0.20 

1.36 

-0.17 

822 

2 . 

2.05 

37.4 

.78 

- .25 

.82 

- .21 

130 

3 . 

2. C6 

45.0 

.42 

- .60 

.27 

- .75 

110 

4 . 

2.02 

39.1 

.49 

- .51 

.53 

- .47 

45 

5 . 

3. 06 

41.0 

.53 

- .49 

.16 

- .86 

65 

G. 

1.21 

39.0 

.57 

- .48 

.58 

- .47 

80 

7 . 

2.07 

42.0 

-.42 

-1.47 

.06 

- .99 

250 

8 . 

4. 45 

31.8 

1.23 

- .07 

.97 

- .33 


9 . 

6.32 

39.8 

1.70 


1.44 

- .26 

/■ Z, UJU 

10 . 

2.11 

41.2 

.91 

- .11 

.60 

- .42 

133 


The foundation of each sluice consists of five rows of sheet piling 
2 inches thick and 4 feet long. About 18 inches from both ends of the 
sluice and parallel with the levee, 6-foot rows of piling are driven; 
the distance between these two lines is approximately quadrisected 
by the other three rows. The tops, bottoms, and doors are 2-inch 
Jersey pine, costing $20 per thousand. The sides are Georgia hard 
pine about 3 inches in thickness, costing $30 per thousand. 

The sluices were built complete at the edge of the hard land, 
floated to the several locations, and at low tide set upon the founda¬ 
tions previously prepared. It is to be regretted that they were not 
placed at a lower grade; this circumstance will become more ap¬ 
parent with the inevitable shrinkage and settlement of the marsh. 
For various reasons few of these sluices are doing the work they 
should. The ditches at the sluice entrances are too often narrow, 
shallow, or obstructed, and the small submergence of the gates, corn- 
100940 0 —Bull. 240—11-4 





























50 


bined with their weight, gives low coefficients of discharge. (See 
PL IX.) 

The time of play, discharge to river, average coefficient of dis¬ 
charge, elevation of ditch water at opening and closing of gates, and 
fall in feet, on the dates and for the sluices given, appear in the fol¬ 
lowing table: 


Sluice data for the marsh lands near Mauricetoum, N. J. 


Date. 

Num¬ 
ber of 
sluice. 

Time of 
play. 

Discharge 
to river. 

Average 
coefficient 
of dis¬ 
charge. 

Elevation of ditch 
water. 

Fall. 

When 

gate 

opened. 

When 

gate 

closed. 

1909. 


Ilrs. Min. 

Cu. ft. 


Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Dec. 7. 

1 

2 07 

4,648 

0.20 

2.07 

1.01 

1.06 

Dec 8. 

2 

2 14 

11.175 

.32 

.80 

.40 

.40 

Dec. 9. 

3 

2 17 

6,905 

.20 

.29 

— .34 

.53 

Dec. 11. 

5 

3 39 

11,563 

.17 

1.15 

— .47 

1.62 

Dec. 15. 

7 

2 50 

66,504 

.46 

.96 

.05 

.91 

Do. 

8 

4 46 

62.977 

.45 

2.66 

- .45 

2.21 

Do. 

9 

4 46 

67,782 

.45 

2.66 

.45 

2. 21 


The leakage of the majority of these sluices is believed not to be 
excessive. Sluice 7, at half tide on December 14, was leaking at the 
rate of 1.27 second-feet, and it is known that there is a large leak¬ 
age through sluice 9. On December 15, two days after a rainfall of 
between 2 and 3 inches, a weir was set in Steep Eun just westerly of 
the highway. The drainage area tributary at that point was 1,943 
acres. During a period of eight hours the flow over this weir was 
about 100,000 cubic feet. The subsequent discharge from sluices 8 
and 9 was 130,759 cubic feet. The difference in these volumes is 
30,759 cubic feet, and largely represents the leakage through the 
two sluices from the river. It amounts to over 23 per cent of the 
discharge 

DITCHES. 

The interior drainage is largely through natural sloughs or water¬ 
courses, which are of all widths up to 40 or 50 feet. They are rough 
and crooked and the flat sloping sides have favored a rank growth 
of vegetation. (See PI. X, fig. 1.) 

Such well-aligned ditches (see PI. X, fig. 2) as have been dug are 
inadequate for the proper drainage of the land. There are about 3J 
miles of these ditches, 4 to 5 feet wide at top, 2 to 3 feet wide at 
bottom, and about 24 feet deep. Many are badly choked with wild 
oats and other grasses. Observations on the ditch water at five dif¬ 
ferent points on the marsh, designated on the plan (see fig. 15) by 
the letters A, E, C, D, E, showed the ordinary drop during the 
period of sluice play to be about as follows: 

[Bull. 240] 

























U. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240, Office Expt. Stations. Drainage Investigations. PLATE IX. 



Fig. 1 .—Sluices 8 and 9, Showing Formation of Ice Below Ordinary High Water 

Mark. 



Fig. 2.—Sluice 8, Showing Gate Slightly Open, How the weight of the Gate 
Retards the Discharge and the Liability to Interference from Ice. 

OUTER END OF SLUICES AT LOW TIDE IN MAURICE RIVER, 
MARSH LANDS OF THE MAURICETOWN BANKING CO., MAU- 
RICETOWN, N. J., DECEMBER 20, 1909. 
















U. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240, Office Expt. Stations. Drainage Investigations. 


Plate X. 



Fig. 1.—Main Ditch Leading to Sluice 4. 

[Example of a choked ditch.] 



Fig. 2.—Lateral Ditch Near Sluice 3. 

[Example of a clear ditch.] 

DITCHES IN MARSH LANDS OF THE MAURICETOWN BANKING CO., 
MAURICETOWN, N. J., DECEMBER 18, 1909. 








t 





































* 












. 










' 











































































• 












51 


Ditch-water elevations. 


Point. 

Control¬ 

ling 

Ditch-water eleva¬ 
tion lowered— 


sluice. 

From— 

To— 

A. 

2 

Feet. 

0.85 

Feet. 

0.56 

•B. 

3 

1.37 

1.37 

C. 

7 

1.72 

1.72 

D. 

10 

1.43 

1.40 

E. 

10 

3.08 

3.06 


It should be stated that point C was in a small ditch, slightly up 
the slope of the bluff, and that, while the surface of the water was 
practically the same at all times, there was a distinct and constant 
flow toward the main ditch leading to sluice 7. 

From these figures it will be seen that the movement of the ditch 
water is very sluggish, and it is probable that the effect of the sluice 
discharge is not felt at some of these, and other points in obstructed 
ditches, until several hours after the gates have closed. 

On December 13 a rainfall of between 2 and 3 inches raised the 
water a foot or more in most of the ditches. The elevations next 
morning, December II, and four days later, December 18, were as 
follows: 

Ditch-water elevation clue to a 2 to 3 inch rainfall. 


Date. 

A. 

B. 

C. 

D. 

E. 

1909. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Dec. 14. 

1.77 

2.00 

2.04 

2.75 

3.21 

Dec. 18. 

.97 

1.64 

1.78 

1.50 

3.03 

Drop in 4 days. 

.80 

.36 

.26 

1.25 

.18 


CROPS. 

The principal efforts at tillage and crop production have thus far 
been confined to a strip of land, 600 to 800 feet in width, contiguous 
to the levee. In 1908 numerous attempts to raise corn proved fail¬ 
ures. There was some growth along the edges of the ditches, but a 
feAV feet therefrom toward the centers of the fields corn would not 
grow, and the crop was worthless. The attempts at growing hay 
were almost as discouraging. The manager of the company reports 
that about 7 tons of timothy was the total product from upward 
of 15 acres. 

During the year 1909 the yield of corn has been much better, and 
some spots have shown a very gratifying production. One man 
obtained 1,700 bushels in the ear from 30 acres; another, 160 bushels 
from 5 acres; another, 30 bushels from 3 acres. The best average 
yield was obtained from the field to the south of point D and lying 

[Bull. 240] 































52 


in part on the southerly side of Steep Kim, where 6.8 acres yielded 
TOO bushels of corn in the ear, or at the rate of about 103 bushels per 
acre. A near-by field in strawberries yielded well. Wheat, buck¬ 
wheat, rye, tomatoes, potatoes, cabbages, melons, and celery were other 
crops grown with varying degrees of success. 

With continued development of the ditches and thorough tillage, 
the next few years will, beyond question, bring these lands to a high 
state of jn'oductiveness. 

VALUE or LANDS. 

Unembanked these lands had a nominal value of $2.50 per acre. 
The assessments for construction purposes were $30 per acre on land 
near the levee, $10 per acre on land near the bluff, and $20 per acre 
on the intermediate areas. Present values may best be judged by 
recent transfers. Five and thirty-five hundredths acres near sluice 5 
sold for $55 per acre; two lots containing 2.8 and 4.25 acres, near 
sluice 4, sold for $70 per acre in March, 1009; 6^ acres on the north¬ 
erly side of the cedar swamp (see PI. VIII, fig. 2) sold for $32 per 
acre. Taking the whole tract of 459 acres, the present market value 
is about $50 per acre. 

ACTUAL COST. 

The actual cost of this reclamation as furnished by Mr. E. L. 
Gandy, manager of the company, is as follows: 

COST OF RECLAMATION. 


Levee, 16,434 linear feet_$9, 701. 08 

Sluice 1 __$36. 30 

Sluice 2- 31. 52 

Sluice 3- 34. 92 

Sluice 4_ 33.18 

Sluice 5- 38. 46 

Sluice 6_ 5o. 72 

Sluice 7-1_ 33. 66 

Sluice 8- 33. 00 

Sluice 9- 56. 40 

Sluice 10_ 34. 48 

- 387.64 

Levee protection, about 10.0(X) linear feet_ 1, 400. (X) 

Dredging Steep Run (25 feet wide), about 2.200 linear 

feet- 475.00 

Interior ditches_ 200. 00 

Salaries of commissioners, surveying, and staking lots__ 380.40 

Fee of attorney_ 70. 00 

Incidental expenses_ 200. 00 


Total-12, S14.12 


To this should be added about $600 for ditches which have been 
dug by individual owners. 

[Bull. 240] 





















SUMMARY. 


(1) The inherent fertility of the soil is beyond question. The 
crops have been all that could reasonably be expected in view of the 
newness of the enterprise and the crude and unweathered condition 
of the soil. Satisfactory yields can not be expected upon newly 
reclaimed lands in less than three years. 

(2) The levee should be trimmed and seeded and the protection 
raised and strengthened. 

(3) The sluices are high and have low coefficients of discharge. 
The combined area of sluice openings is 28.32 square feet. 

(4) The ditch system must be further developed. Many existing 
channels must be deepened and freed of the impeding vegetation. 

(5) The deposit of new mud in 29 years averages about 2 feet in 
depth. The thickest deposit is on the downstream side of projecting 
points. 

(6) This reclamation has cost $29.29 per acre and raised the land 
values from $2.50 to an average of $50 per acre. The actual cost, in¬ 
cluding $600 expended on ditches by individuals, has been $13,414.12. 
The levee, including sluices and protection, has cost about $3,700 
per mile. 

BENCH MARKS. 

The bench marks listed below have been used in making the sur¬ 
veys outlined, and may prove useful to engineers who may make 
other sur~ ys in these localities: 

List of bench marks. 


No. 


Eleva¬ 

tion. 


Description. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 
7 


Feet. 
12.114 

10. 448 

1.44 

11.39 

4.99 

8.11 

9.95 


Delaware City, Del., intersection of Battery Lane and Maple Boulevard, Fort Dupont, 
top of granite monument. 

Delaware City, Del., Battery Gibson, Fort Dupont, rear of emplacement No. 1, concrete 
manhole in roadway, top of northeasterly corner. 

Delaware City, Del., marsh of the Arthur Colburn estate, land end of sluice, southerly 
flume, top of 4-inch timber side, southwesterly corner. 

Delaware City, Del., St. Georges Marsh, range light at St. Georges Creek, steel column 
marked “A IIII,” top of northerly anchor bolt. 

Dorchester, N. J., Howard Compton’s marsh, large maple tree 25 feet westerly of tool 
house, westerly root, 20 inches from trunk of tree, 12 inches above ground, top of spike. 

Mauricetown Station, N. J.,West JerseyA Seashore R. R. track, center of highway crossing, 
top of westerly rail. 

Mauricetown, N. J., highway bridge over Maurice River, westerly abutment, top of bridge 
seat, northeasterly corner. 


GENERAL SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION. 

The principal points established or elucidated by these investiga¬ 
tions may be summarized as follows: 

SLUICES. 

(1) A sluice will play longer for a given height of interior water 
the less the range of tide. 

[Bull. 240] 












(2) The length of time a sluice will play is governed almost 
exclusively by the behavior of the tide and by the relative elevations 
of the outer and inner waters. On the ebb tide the gate will open 
when the water without passes the level of that within, and will 
remain open until the succeeding flood tide rises to the level of the 
interior water. 

(3) The coefficient of discharge of sluices having unweighted 
wooden flap gates in complete submergence is 0.G4. Heavily 
weighted and poorly constructed gates may cause the coefficient to 
drop to as low as 0.10 or even less. Light gates with long radius of 
swing, good mechanical construction, and complete submergence are 
all favorable to a high coefficient of discharge. 

(4) Sluice leakage was found to exist to an unexpected extent. 
The smallest leakage measured was 23 per cent and the largest 97 
per cent of all the water discharged. 

(5) The practice is general of making sluices too small and set¬ 
ting them too high. 

(6) The relative merits of the so-called “ high sluice” and “low* 
sluice ” have been discussed far and wide. The advantage is dis¬ 
tinctly with the latter. Only in case of an exceptionally high marsh 
and large tidal range should the top of a sluice be placed above ordi¬ 
nary low-water mark. The advantages of the Ioav sluice are: 

(a) It will discharge more water. 

(b) Its life, if of wooden construction, is immeasurably increased 
by reason of being always submerged and not exposed alternately to 
the action of air and water. 

(c) Its effectiveness will not be diminished by any ordinary set¬ 
tlement or subsidence of the marsh. 

( d ) There is less liability of obstruction and clogging of the gates 
from floating sticks, reeds, or other debris which, on the flood tide, 
has a set toward shore. 

(e) It is less liable to interference from sportsmen or persons mis- 
chievousty or maliciously inclined. 

(/) It is less liable to injury or interference in its workings from 
the action of ice. 

(g) The outfall channel is not more liable to become silted than 
in the case of a “ high sluice.” In either case silting does not usually 
occur in the immediate vicinity of the sluice, but at a point some dis¬ 
tance therefrom where the velocity of flow has been reduced by a 
commingling with the quieter waters outside. 

The advantages of the high sluice are: 

(а) It is less costly to construct. 

(б) Inspection and repairs are more easily and cheaply made. 

[Bull. 240] 




55 


LEVEES. 

The best protection which a levee can have, all things considered, 
is one that nature itself may supply, i. e., a high, wide foreshore. 
Few levees are built to a safe height, nor do they receive the inspec¬ 
tion and care which their importance demands. Including sluices 
and protection, the Colburn levee has cost about $G,900 per mile; the 
St. Georges, $14,300; the Dorchester, $0,370; and the Mauricetown, 
$3,700. 

DITCHES. 

While the ditch system and its maintenance is one of the most im¬ 
portant factors in marsh reclamation, it is also one of the most neg¬ 
lected. Sluices and levees may be in perfect order, but if the ditches 
are inadequate through faulty design, or by reason of accumulated 
deposit and impeding vegetation, the land will remain undrained. 

There should be no “ seepage ditch ” along the inside toe of the 
levee as it weakens the embankment to that extent and serves as a 
playground for muskrats, snakes, and fiddler crabs. If interception 
of seepage through the levee is necessary, it should be done by under¬ 
draining. In actual practice few ditches in our reclaimed marshes 
have a water gradient of less than 7 inches per mile, and in very 
many it runs as high as 16 to 24 inches. In the reclamation of low, 
flat marsh lands, there are several practical advantages in making 
the bottoms of ditches deep and level, viz: 

(1) Storage capacity is increased. 

(2) The friction head is reduced. 

(3) Vegetation does not so readily take root and grows less rank 
by reason of the bottom being always well submerged. 

(4) Since velocity is dependent upon inclination of the water sur¬ 
face and not of ditch bottom, no advantage is gained by giving slopes 
to the bottoms of the ditches. 

SOIL. 

Marshes composed of a deep soil which contains sufficient clay to 
render it when moist somewhat slippery under the foot are most likely 
to prove agriculturally profitable, to be subject to only moderate 
settlement and subsidence, and to be best adapted to the building and 
sustaining of levees and sluices, or to the digging of ditches. 

The marsh soils generally show an acid reaction, due to the decom¬ 
position of vegetable matter, and require lime as a corrective. The 
beneficial effects of lime do not continue as long as on upland soils, 
for it unites with the clilorin forming chlorid of lime which is solu¬ 
ble in water. Hence applications of lime may on some soils be needed 
everv three or four years. The presence of marl, shells, or other 
calcareous matter is a favorable sign. 

[Bull. 240] 


56 


GROUND WATER. 

The height of the ground water in the long run will be about a 
mean between the elevations of the ditch water just before and just 
after the sluice has played. The height of the ground water is prac¬ 
tically unaffected by the oscillations of the tide for a single day. 
From one to three days must elapse before a low run of tides will have 
noticeably lowered the water table. In seasons of very small rainfall 
the water table may be lowered by evaporation considerably below 
mean low water outside. 

VEGETATION AND RELATION TO WATER TABLE. 

Upon salt marshes proper, depending upon the height to which they 
have been built up, are found various sedges, joint grass, salt grass, 
and black grass. On brackish marshes are found three-square sedge, 
snip-snap, cat-tails, cord grass, wild oats, and red fescue. On re¬ 
claimed marshes where the ditch water rises to such a height as to fre¬ 
quently submerge and keej^ the lands constantly saturated, reeds, 
flags, and cat-tails will abound. Land which is occasionally sub¬ 
merged and but a few inches above the water table is in a favorable 
condition for a profuse groAvth of three-square sedge. 

Little of value is obtained from land less than 1 foot above the 
water table. At slightly higher elevation, 1 to 1J feet above the 
water table, June grass and other natural grasses come in, and with 
white clover or fescue afford excellent pasturage. There should be 
not less than to 2 feet of soil above the ground water for good 
timothy and corn and 3J to 4 feet for wheat. If sluices and ditches 
can maintain the water table within 6 inches above mean low water 
outside, and this usually should be possible, we may conclude that 
land situated H to 2 feet above mean low tide would make good pas¬ 
turage; 2 to 24 feet above, good hay and corn fields; and 4 to 4J feet 
above, good wheat fields. Conservative forecasts on the crop produc¬ 
tion of such lands would be 2 tons of hay, 65 bushels of shelled corn, 
and 20 to 25 bushels of wheat to the acre. The botany of tidal marshes 
has been studied by the Connecticut State Experiment Station, which 
has also reported complete chemical analyses showing the forage 
value of the principal marsh grasses. 1 

TREATMENT OF LAND AND CROPS GROWN. 

Draining marsh land should be done gradually, as otherwise the 
mechanical condition of the soil may be injuriously affected, its 
capillary power destroyed, and decomposition of the organic matter 
retarded. Where fresh water is available and can be promptly re- 


[Bull. 240] 


1 Connecticut State Station Rpt. 1S89, p. 233. 





57 


moved, much of the saline matter can be washed from the soil. The 
usual method of subduing a rank sod is by burning, and is to be 
recommended, despite criticisms which have been made. If the burn¬ 
ing does not extend deeper than 1 foot, comparatively little available 
plant food is destroyed and the ashes and charred matter improve the 
texture of the soil, correct acidity, and hasten nitrification. Every 
facility should be offered for air, rain, sunlight, and frost to enter 
and act upon the soil. Many marsh soils, in common with clay soils 
generally, bake when exposed to sun and drought. Plowing should 
be done in the fall or winter, and when the land is neither very wet 
nor very dry, as at such times a baked or lumpy surface will result, 
and proper preparation of the land will be rendered difficult, if not 
impossible. The land should be plowed when gentle rains have 
brought it to its most friable condition. The furrow-slice should be 
shallow the first year and increase in depth in subsequent years. 

Corn is a favorite crop on newly reclaimed marshes, as it with¬ 
stands considerable acidity. Red top, bent grass, meadow grass, and 
alsike clover grow w T ell on damp, sour land; and timothy, rye, oats, 
buckwheat, potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, celery, melons, and rice 
have all shown adaptability to marsh soils. Asparagus, onions, beets, 
and sorghum are crops that resist considerable salt. 

FINANCIAL. 

Unreclaimed, the marsh lands have a value of from $1 to $20 per 
acre, depending upon their location, elevation, and capability of 
growing salt hay. In general, the values are greater in the more 
thickly populated North Atlantic States than in the sparsely settled 
South Atlantic States. Reclaimed, the marsh lands are worth from 
$20 to $100 or more per acre, varying with the elevation of the land, 
the character of the soil, and the thoroughness of the development. 
Probably $50 to $60 per acre would be a fair average value at the 
present time. 

The acre cost of a projected reclamation will of course vary widely 
with the extent of the land to be protected, the amount of upland 
drainage, and the length and height of the levee. Under average 
conditions it may run from $50 to $60 per acre. 

SANITARY. 

Marshes which are daily submerged by the tide or are so little 
above high tide as to be frequently covered through moon, wind, or 
storm influences are not considered prejudicial to health nor danger¬ 
ous as mosquito-breeding territory. When the marsh becomes so 
high or its contour is such that flooding is infrequent the deleterious 
effects become manifest in malaria, chills, fevers, the mosquito pest, 

[Bull. 240] 


58 


and in certain localities, anthrax. Reclamation of land of this char¬ 
acter and its utilization for agricultural purposes has seldom failed 
to abate the harmful influences and to destroy the mosquito nuisance. 

REASONS FOR POOR PROGRESS AND CAUSES OF FAILURE. 

Why has not greater progress in marsh reclamation been made and 
what are the causes of numerous failures where it has been tried? 

A Massachusetts commission which investigated the matter re¬ 
ported as follows: 

We are fully convinced that the chief obstacles hereto in the way of exten¬ 
sive reclamation on our New England coast have been— 

(1) The real value and profit of such improvement is not fully realized or 
understood. 

(2) The lack of practicaUexperieuce in the art and proper method of reclaim¬ 
ing and subsequent treatment. 

(3) The necessity of united and harmonious action on the part of all the 
owners. 

(4) The absence of a plain and practical diking law, easily understood and 
simply applied, by which the best interests of all the owners are duly protected 
and promoted. 

(5) Want of sufficient capital that can be spared for the purpose by some of 
the owners of the marshes. 

To the above may be added as the principal causes of failure: 

(a) Lack of cooperation among landowners. 

(b) Ignorance or disregard of the fact that many marshes, unless 
renewed by annual deposition of the tide or by allowing them to 
remain “ out ” for a term of years, will settle and subside to such an 
extent that drainage by pumping is the only possible method of 
relief. 

(c) Levees of insufficient height, and poorly constructed, protected, 
and maintained. 

(d) Sluices of insufficient size and of so poor mechanical con¬ 
struction that leakage to the land becomes a preponderate propor¬ 
tion of the discharge. 

( e) Ditches so silted and choked with vegetation that adequate 
drainage of the land is impossible. 

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO BE DECIDED BEFORE RECLAIMING. 

In considering a proposed reclamation, the all-important questions 
to be decided are: 

(1) What is the character of the soil, especially its fertility and 
depth ? 

(2) What is the elevation of the land with respect to low tide, and 
the range of the tide? 

(3) What is the area and slope of the land? 

(I) How is the land situated with reference to shelter from storm 
tides? 


[Bull. 240] 


59 


(5) Is the shore line advancing or receding? 

(6) What is the amount and character of the upland drainage? 

(T) Can intersecting streams be diverted? 

(8) What is the market for the products of the land? 

Especial emphasis should be placed on the importance of carefully 
considered plans and thorough construction in the matter of levees, 
sluices, ditches, and pumping plants, as much money has been 
squandered in the past through hasty, ill-advised, and poorly con¬ 
structed works. 

THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF DRAINAGE WORKS. 

LEVEES. 

With due allowance for existing physical conditions, levees should 
be located well back from the shore line. There is usually along 
tidal shores a fairly well-defined zone where the marsh has been 
built highest and where the deposit of new material is thickest and 
firmest. This should generally be the site of the levee, having in 
mind also the great value of a wide foreshore for the protection it 
affords to the levee. 

The foreshore should not be less than 100 feet wide and preferably 
much more, and its rapid building up by tidal deposit should be 
assisted, when necessary, by the building of groynes or by the spread 
of vegetation. Instances are numerous where the foreshore is so high 
that ordinary high tide does not reach the levee at all. Such 
levees, provided no holes or depressions containing stagnant water 
are left on either side, are practically exempt from the operation 
of burrowing animals and the expense of artificial protection is 
avoided. 

Where the sweep of currents and waves comes against a levee, 
artificial protection is indispensable. All the systems in common 
use have serious defects. Brush and wood are light, fragile, and 
short lived; riprap is often expensive, nor does it wholly prevent the 
burrowing of animals and the washing away of the fine material 
beneath it; paving is also expensive and unless the blocks are of 
large size and suitably backed is unequal to the requirements. 

In this extremity it is believed that concrete blocks about 3 feet 
square and 5 inches thick covering the slope from the toe to above 
ordinary high water would make an ideal protection. Such blocks 
would weigh between 500 and 600 pounds, could be made at the most 
favorable location, and after the newly made levee had settled and 
solidified could be placed on the slope from a scow. This protection 
would circumvent all the evils which have been mentioned, would 
intercept considerable seepage, and its cost would be moderate. The 
top of the levee should be from 1\ to 4 feet, depending upon exposure 

[Bull. 240] 



60 


to severe storm tides or the height of freshets, above the highest 
known high water. Only in exceptional cases should the top width 
be made less than 5 feet. 

The slopes will vary somewhat with the material, the exposure, 
and the method of protection. In no case should the inner slope 
be steeper than will take a good stand of grass and one that can be 
mowed over with a machine; such slope is probably about 2 horizontal 
to 1 vertical. The outer slope, unless protected, should be made very 
flat, for the certain effect of high waves and heavy swells is to batter 
down a steep bank and cause it to assume the slope and conditions 
of a natural beach. Waves can be “tired out,” but the power of 
their sweep against a near-vertical face is tremendous. It has in¬ 
variably been found that a slope is ultimately established up which 
the waves climb, come to rest through loss of inertia by friction 
and gravity, and recede with diminished velocity and lessened de¬ 
structive capacity. This natural slope in a silt-clay mud exposed 
to moderate wave action is about 3 to 1. With an increased per¬ 
centage of sand and stronger waves this slope may become 4 or 5 to 
1, and pure sand may be laid by severe storms as flat as 6 to 1, or 
even 10 to 1. 

With the improvements which have been made in dredging ma¬ 
chinery, dredges afford the only practicable method of levee con¬ 
struction in tidal marshes, excepting the work be of very limited 
extent and the conditions unusual. Some form of floating dredge is 
best suited to the work, and the boom should be of such length that 
a berm of not less than 10 feet can be left along the outer toe. 

No specific directions can be given as to the proper allowances to 
be made for the combined effects of waste, shrinkage of the material 
in a levee, and settlement beneath the base. The allowance should 
vary with the character of the material, the method of construction, 
and the nature of the marsh, but will seldom amount to less than 40 
per cent of the material as measured in excavation, and may amount 
to 80 per cent or more. It is probable that 15 to 20 per cent should 
be added to the height for shrinkage in the levee if made of clay-silt, 
and 25 to 30 per cent if composed of muck. 

The site should be cleared of all vegetation, stumps, logs, or any¬ 
thing of a perishable nature, and longitudinally furrowed or ditched 
to secure an intimate bond with the subsoil. If the base can be deep¬ 
ened (which is usually not possible) to a firm, impervious stratum, 
the stability and worth of the levee are greatly increased. A line of 
sheet piling or a thin concrete core wall is of great service in cutting 
off seepage and preventing the operations of burrowing animals. 

After the levee has been built and sufficiently dried out and weath¬ 
ered, the slopes should be trimmed and seeded. A grass suited to the 
latitude and which forms a thick, tough sod should be used. There 

[Bull. 240] 


61 


are numerous soil-binding grasses but Bermuda grass and couch 
grass are two of the best, the former being used in the South and the 
latter in the North. Redtop, white clover, and blue grass are also 
extensively used. Beach or marram grass is the most used of the 
sand-binding grasses. 

DITCHES AND SLUICES. 

There is probably very little tidal marsh in the United States so 
high or so favorably situated that successful gravity drainage ulti¬ 
mately will not call into requisition every artifice of the engineer in 
reducing the ditch water to the lowest possible level. It is necessary 
that storm water and seepage should be intercepted by the ditches 
and delivered promptly to the sluices, and that there should be 
adequate storage capacity to hold the undischarged drainage at 
times of excessive precipitation or intermittent sluice action by reason 
of continued high tides. 

To accomplish these ends there must be large storage facilities as 
near the sluice as possible, and the lateral ditches, especially those far 
from the sluice, should be designed as carriers rather than storage 
ditches. This arrangement places the accumulated drainage where 
it is discharged quickly; the head necessary to move water to the 
sluice is reduced to a minimum and the discharge head of the sluice 
correspondingly increased. The small lateral ditches then become 
real drains and continue their flow toward the reservoir or storage 
basin for a long time after the gates have closed. 

All ditches should be designed to reduce the friction head to a 
minimum. They should be on direct lines, free from obstructions 
and vegetation. The quotient arising from dividing the cross sec¬ 
tional area of flow by the wetted perimeter or rubbed surface should 
be as near a maximum as possible. This condition is geometrically 
complied with when the form is semicircular and the flow line on the 
diameter. However, in practice such form would be impracticable 
and rectangular or trapezoidal sections are necessary. The most effi¬ 
cient width is twice the depth, but since velocities vary not directly 
but approximately as the square root of the depths, the efficiency 
is not materially lessened if the width is made three or four times the 

depth. 

From a consideration of numerous marshes and a study of rainfall 
statistics covering both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, it would seem 
that ditches and sluices capable of caring for the run-off of a 3-inch 
rainfall in 24 hours over the entire drainage area would be fulfilling 
the conditions of an adequate yet not too costly design. With such a 
rainfall, actual measurements of run-off, which are confirmed by the 
known gravitational space of marsh soils, show that provision must 
be made for the removal of three-fourths of an inch per day over the 

[Bull. 240] 


62 


entire area. This run-off amounts to 2,722 cubic feet per acre per 
day, but in view of the occasional failure of sluices to play, it is a 
reasonable and necessary assumption that storage should be provided 
in the ditches for at least all of this amount. It will also be assumed 
that the ditch water should not rise higher than 1 foot above mean 
low water and that at the end of sluice play it will be lowered to 
within 1 inch of the outside water. 

On these jmemises the ditch area for each acre of land will be 3,000 
square feet, or, in other words, about 7 per cent of the land must be 
given up to ditches. Under an average head of 1 inch, each 
square foot of sluice opening will discharge 1.5 second-feet, and in 
one and one-half hours, the period of time a sluice would play with 
the assumed height of ditch water and a tidal range of 7 feet, would 
discharge 8,100 cubic feet per operation, or 10,200 cubic feet per day. 
Since each acre yields 2,722 cubic feet per day, it is seen that each 
square foot of sluice opening would care for but 6 acres. This would 
lead to sluices of extraordinary size, and it is highly probable that 
if built little advantage would be gained lor the reason that the high 
tides which usually accompany a storm make sluice action very un¬ 
certain, if indeed it be not entirely eliminated. Since the drainage 
water is stored in the ditches no harm can be done the land if two or 
three days, say five operations of the sluice, are required to discharge 
it, and therefore 1 square foot of sluice opening would protect 15 
acres of land. 

The table (see fig. 17) has been prepared along the lines above 
indicated. 

In view of the fact that slopes of ^ to 1, or as usually dug by 
dredge, will, in a silt-clay soil, soon flatten below the flow line to 
about 2 to 1, reducing the capacity and efficiency of the ditch, it is 
recommended that the bottom as excavated be made about 9 feet 
wider than the tabular widths. It will generally be found preferable 
in large reclamations to use several small sluices rather than one 
large sluice. 

Sluices should be built in the most substantial and workmanlike 
manner. In important works and where suitable foundations can* be 
secured, mass concrete has many advantages. Reinforced concrete, 
because of its lightness and ability to withstand tensional and tor¬ 
sional strains, is especially to be recommended. If timber is used 
it should be antiseptically treated, preferably with creosote (dead 
oil of coal tar). Wood impregnated with zinc chlorid. corrosive 
sublimate, or copper sulphate will prove less satisfactory on account 
of the solubility of these compounds in water. 

All hardware should be noncorrosive, preferably of bronze, brass, 
copper, or galvanized iron. 

[Bull. 240] 


\J s Dept, of Agr., Bu». 240, 


Drainage Investigations. 


Office of ExDeriment Stations. 


U.S. DEPARTM ENT OF AGRICULTURE -OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS 

DRAINAGE INVESTIGATIONS 

C.G.ELLIOTT, CHIEF 

The Periods that Sluices Play, the Necessary Clear Openings of Sluices 
and the Minimum Bottom Widths of Main Ditches 
for Draining Marsh Lands. 

Prepared by GEORGE M. WARREN,Drainage Engr. 

1910 






Mean 

Ranqe of Tide in Feet 








2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

& 

9 

10 

Land Drained 
in Acres 



D eriod Sluice 

Plays in Hours and 

Minutes 




3- 

-05 

2- 

-25 

2 

-05 

i- 

-50 

1- 

-40 

1- 

-30 

1- 

25 

1- 

20 

1- 

15 

Clear Openinq 
of Sluice 
in Sq.Ft. 

Bottom Width 
of Main Ditch 
in Feet 

Clear Opening 
of Sluice 
in Sq.Ft. 

Bottom Width 
of Main Ditch 
in Feet 

Clear Opening 
of Sluice 
in Sq.Ft. 

Bottom Width 
of Main Ditch 
in Feet 

Clear Opening 

of Sluice 

in Sq. Ft. 

Bottom Width 

of Main Ditch 

in Feet 

Clear Opening 

of Sluice 

in Sq.Ft. 

Bottom Width 

of Main Ditch 

in Feet 

Clear Opening 

of Sluice 

in.Sq.Ft. 

Bottom Width 

of Main Ditch 

in Feet 

Clear Opening 

qf Sluice 

in Sq.Ft. 

Bottom Width 

of Main Ditch 

in Feet 

Clear Opening 

of Sluice 

in Sq.Ft. 

Dottom Width 

of Main Ditch 

in Feet 

Clear Opening 

of Sluice 

in Sq.Ft. 

Bottom Width 

of Main Ditch 

in Feet 

25 

.9 

/ 

/./ 

7 

/ .3 

/ 

7-4 

/ 

7-6 

/ 

1.7 

/ 

/ .8 

/ 

7.9 

/ 

2.1 

/ 

SO 

/ • 7 

/ 

2. / 

/ 

2.5 

7 

2.8 

/ 

34 

/ 

3.4 

/ 

3.6 

7 

3.8 

/ 

4.1 

/ 

75 

25 

/ 

3.3 

/ 

3-7 

/ 

4.2 

/ 

4.6 

/ 

5.1 

7 

5.4 

/ 

5.7 

/ 

6/ 

/ 

too 

3.3 

/ 

4.2 

/ 

4.9 

7 

5.5 

/ 

6 7 

/ 

6.8 

2 

7-2 

2 

7-6 

2 

87 

2 

200 

6.6 

2 

8-4 

2 

9.7 

3 

7/.0 

3 

12.2 

3 

135 

4 

74-3 

4 

15.2 

4 

16. Z 

5 

300 

9.9 

3 

12.6 

3 

74.6 

4 

16.5 

5 

18-2 

5 

20 2 

6 

21-4 

6 

227 

6 

24.3 

7 

400 

13. / 

4 

76 .7 

5 

19-4 

5 

22.0 

6 

24.2 

7 

26 9 

7 

28.5 

8 

30-3 

8 

32.3 

9 

500 

/ 6-4- 

5 

20.9 

6 

24.2 

7 

27-5 

7 

30-3 

8 

33-6 

9 

35.6 

9 

37.8 

to 

40-4 

to 

600 

19-7 

5 

25.7 

7 

29-1 

8 

33.0 

9 

36 3 

70 

40-4 

70 

42.8 

II 

45.4 

72 

48-5 

72 

700 

22.9 

6 

29.2 

8 

33 -9 

9 

38.5 

70 

42.4 

II 

47 7 

72 

49 9 

73 

53-0 

73 

565 

14 

800 

26.2 

7 

33.4 

9 

368 

70 

44.0 

71 

48.4 

72 

53.8 

74 

57 0 

74 

60.5 

75 

64.6 

16 

900 

295 

8 

37.6 

10 

43-6 

7/ 

49.5 

73 

54.5 

74 

60-5 

75 

64 7 

76 

68J 

n 

72-7 

76 

1000 

32.7 

9 

4! .7 

7/ 

484 

12 

55.0 

74 

60-5 

75 

67-2 

77 

7/ .2 

78 

75.6 

79 

80-7 

20 

1200 

39 3 

10 

50- / 

/3 

56' 

74 

660 

76 

72-6 

78 

80-7 

20 

85-5 

2/ 

90-8 

22 

96 9 

23 

7400 

45.8 

72 

58-4 

75 

67.8 

n 

77-0 

79 

84.7 

2/ 

94.7 

23 

99 7 

24 

705.9 

25 

773-0 

27 

1600 

52.4 

73 

66.8 

77 

77.5 

79 

68 0 

27 

96 8 

23 

107-6 

26 

174-0 

27 

121 -0 

29 

729 2 

30 

1800 

589 

75 

75.7 

79 

87-2 

2/ 

990 

24 

106.9 

26 

12/0 

29 

728-2 

30 

136 / 

32 

745-3 

34 

2000 

65.4 

76 

83-4 

20 

96.8 

23 

noo 

26 

121.0 

29 

734.4 

32 

742.4 

33 

757.2 

35 

767-4 

37 

2500 

81-8 

20 

704.3 

25 

727 0 

29 

73 7-5 

32 

75 /-3 

35 

768-0 

39 

178 0 

47 

789 ■ 0 

43 

201-6 

46 

3000 

98- / 

24 

125.1 

30 

745-2 

34 

765.0 

38 

181 -5 

42 

207-6 

46 

273 6 

49 

226-8 

5/ 

242.1 

55 

3500 

7/45 

27 

746-0 

34 

769 4 

39 

792.8 

44 

277 e 

48 

235 Z 

53 

249 2 

56 

264 6 

60 

282 5 

64 

4000 

730.8 

3! 

756-6 

39 

193 .6 

44 

22 0.0 

50 

242.0 

55 

268. 8 

60 

284 8 

65 

302 4 

\ 68 

i 

322-8 

72 


Fig. IT.—Showing the periods that sluices plaj', the necessary clear openings of sluices, and the minimum bottom widths of main ditches for draining marsh lands, 
























































































p.s>ru«*»C 

— 3 * JTJUC V ^ 0 A 10 ' T! /» 3 N‘TflA - 

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4 rit oR d»otdfi b -i 

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m>inicii<: tot 
M ’..■ 330 <d 


. >S Jufl ,.ip* >0 .iq*G 8 U 



































































































































































































63 


The gate and its seat demand special attention. The link-hinge 
allows the gate to adjust itself to the seat, which should have a rubber 
or other resilient lining or cushion. To protect the gate and seat 
from the gnawing of animals or the depredations of passers-by, it is 
recommended that it be set within a chamber or large manhole near 
the center line of the levee and both the outer and inner ends of the 
sluice covered with suitable metallic bar screens. This position and 
protection of the gate would also insure its exemption from obstruc¬ 
tion and interference by floating debris and ice. 

To obviate cofferdam work with the attendant expense wdien re¬ 
newals or repairs on the gate are made, it is suggested that each end 
of the sluice be fitted with two or more permanent vertical grooves 
or guides, so that stop planks may be tightly placed over the ends, 
and the imprisoned water inside the sluice pumped out through the 
chamber or manhole, which should be surmounted with a suitable 
wooden or iron cover equipped with padlock. 

Not less than two “ cut-off ” lines of strong tongued and grooved 
sheet piling should be driven under, the sluice and carried well into 
the levee on both sides to prevent seepage or “ blow outs *’ under or 
along the sides. The weakest point in a levee is apt to be at the sluice, 
but if the sheet piling is driven deepty into the mud or to an im¬ 
pervious stratum, little apprehension need be felt. 

For the purpose of counterbalancing heavy gates that they may 
swing under slight pressure, several devices have been employed, but 
there is probably none in use which is not open to more or less ob¬ 
jection. Complete submergence of the gates greatly lessens the need 
of any counterbalancing mechanism. Gates of the “ barn door ” or 
“ canal lock ” pattern have been extensively used abroad and to some 
extent in this country. They are best adapted to tidal streams drain¬ 
ing large areas and where it might be desirable to pass small boats. 
The closing of these gates by the rising tide is liable to be accom¬ 
panied by so much shock as to damage the gate or fastenings. They 
are believed to be growing in disfavor in this country and unsuited 
to the conditions of our present comparatively small reclamations. 

DRAINAGE BY PUMPING. 

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 

In many localities the small tidal range and naturally low elevation 
of the marsh and at other places the large subsidence of the land 
render gravity drainage impossible and the water must be removed 
by pumping. It is not the purpose here to give explicit information 
regarding the design of pumping plants, for each reclamation re¬ 
quires special study and treatment. 

[Bull. 240] 


/ 


64 

The questions of rainfall, evaporation, seepage, use to which the 
land is to be put, fuel supply, and capacity and type of machinery 
which shall properly balance operating expenses and interest and 
sinking fund requirements are matters which should receive the con¬ 
sideration of engineers experienced in the design and installation of 
pumping machinery. There are, however, certain general observa¬ 
tions more or less applicable to all projects of this character. 

The plant should be located near the natural drainage outlet, upon 
a substantial foundation, and where fuel may be landed cheaply. 
The machinery should be suitably housed, preferably in a fireproof 
building, and should be devoid of any unnecessarily complicated 
parts. 

The head pumped against should be as small as practicable, and 
this can be accomplished by the use of a check valve in the discharge 
pipe, by laying the discharge pipe so that siphon action will take 
place therein, or by pumping through a sluice and not over the top of 
the levee. If 7 per cent of the marsh area is in ditches, as previously 
recommended, it will seldom be found that pumps capable of remov¬ 
ing 900 cubic feet per acre per working day of eight hours (this is 
one-fourth of an inch in depth) are inadequate for the complete 
drainage of cultivated lands. 

Many contend for continuous pumping. We believe this is inad¬ 
visable under ordinary circumstances. A plant intended for con¬ 
tinuous running at times of large precipitation is without reserve 
capacity for emergencies, and the strain on machinery and men can 
not be ignored. In large works where the machinery is in duplicate 
and reserve crews available, the advantage of diminishing the size of 
plant and lengthening the hours of pumping is increased. 


PUMPS. 

Various styles of pump have been used at different times both' 
here and abroad. Some form of centrifugal pump is probably best 
adapted to drainage work. Essentially, this pump consists of a shell 
containing a revolving runner or propeller, water entering the runner 
in the center and delivering by centrifugal force at its periphery into 
the receiving-pump shell. It is very simple, the revolving runner and 
shaft being the only working parts, and the discharge is continuous. 
The centrifugal pump is compactly built, does not require heavy 
foundations, may be belt driven or direct connected, and its cost is 
moderate. 

The submerged type of centrifugal pump has a vertical shaft, the 
impeller being below the surface of the water to be raised. There is 
no suction pipe to cause friction and it is always primed. Against 
it are the difficulties of inspection and repair, and it mus+ be driven 

[Bull. 240] 


65 


with a twisted belt or by bevel gears and jack shaft. Belt drive is 
unsatisfactory and uneconomical. 

The more common type, the horizontal centrifugal, consisting of a 
rotating vertical impeller on a horizontal shaft, is placed above the 
water to be raised. For low or moderate lifts of large quantities of 
water, and where the head is changing, both of these types are very 
satisfactory. The efficiency will range from 30 per cent in the 
smaller sizes to 50 or 60 per cent in the medium, and may reach T5 
per cent or more in the larger sizes, which are specially designed. 
The pump should be set near the water to be raised and the suction 
pipe should be absolutely air tight, with few elbows, and laid so as 
to avoid air pockets. Before starting, the pump must be completely 
filled with water or primed. The small sizes can be primed with a 
hose or by pouring water into the opening at the top of the shell or 
with a hand primer. In larger sizes than 8-inch it is desirable to 
prime with a steam ejector, and for this purpose either the discharge 
pipe must have a check valve or the suction pipe a foot valve. To 
prevent damage to the pump in freezing weather, it should be drained 
after using unless properly housed. In the table below are given 
the size, capacity, and horsepower for ordinary centrifugal pumps 
with medium length of suction and discharge pipe and based on a 
velocity of 10 feet per second in the discharge pipe and efficiencies 
ranging from 30 to 60 per cent: 

Data of small centrifugal pumps. 


Diameter 

Discharge 

opening. 

in inches. 

Suction 

opening. 

Capacity- 
in gallons 
per minute. 

Horse¬ 
power 
required 
for each 
foot of lift. 

n 

2 

55 

0.05 

2 

3 

98 

.08 


3* 

153 

.13 

3 

4 

220 

.18 

4 

5 

391 

.25 

5 

6 

612 

.38 

6 

8 

882 

.50 

8 

10 

1,567 

.78 

10 , 

12 

2, 448 

1.22 

12 

15 

3,525 

1.62 

15 

18 

5,508 

2. 75 

18 , 

20 

7,931 

3. 60 

20 

22 

9,792 

4. 45 

24 

24 

14,100 

5. 88 


A type of pump used in the Southern States consists of a vertical 
centrifugal pump within a wooden casing. There is no suction or dis¬ 
charge pipe, but the movement of the impeller causes the water to 
enter the casing through openings near the bottom and, rising with 
slight friction, to escape through large openings at the desired height 
into the outfall canal. Pulley, shaft, bearings, and impeller are the 
only metal parts, and it is therefore a low-cost pump. It is well 

100940°—Bull. 240—11-5 
















66 


adapted to large quantities of water and low lifts, but lacks the 
durability of all-metal pumps. 

The rotary pump has been used to some extent and is more effi¬ 
cient than the centrifugal, but it is heavy and being geared directly 
to the engine shaft requires foundations that permit of no settlement. 

POWER. 

The pow T er to be used must depend upon local conditions; steam, 
oil, gasoline, gas producer, alcohol, electricity, and wind have been 
used. 

The cost of pumping by windmills is very low, but the uncertain 
character of this power and the small size and duty of the mills 
found in the United States eliminate this source in all large or im¬ 
portant plants. As an auxiliary it may be made very useful. 

Pumping by electricity has in numerous cases proven advanta¬ 
geous. The efficiency, cleanliness, noiselessness, and simplicity of 
electric pumping, together with the small foundations and compact 
plant, make this method very attractive. Where electricity must be 
purchased the cost of pumping is likely to be high. 

Alcohol engines have not been developed as yet to the point where 
they are successfully competing with those of other types, but with 
the lapse of time there is good reason to believe the competition will 
be stronger and more successful. The source of the fuel is inex¬ 
haustible, and its storage, handling, and use in internal combustion 
engines is not dangerous or unclean. There is no tendency for the 
interior of the engine to become sooty, and the odor of the exhaust 
is not offensive. Alcohol engines develop more power than gaso¬ 
line or oil, but this increase is at the expense of greater consumption 
of fuel. 

Gas-producer plants are unsuccessful for intermittent work and 
for sizes under 25 horsepower. 

Gasoline and oil engines have long since passed the experimental 
stage. The advantages over steam are a saving in the first cost 
through absence of chimney, boiler house, coal shed, and large engine 
room, less attendance required, quick starting and stopping, and gen¬ 
eral adaptability to intermittent service. 

Gasoline must be stored in metal tanks beneath ground to prevent 
loss by evaporation, and it is highly inflammable and explosive. 
Gasoline plants are generally less efficient than either steam or elec¬ 
tric plants and the depreciation is higher. The fuel cost at 15 cents 
per gallon is about 1.7 cents per horsepower per hour. This is higher 
than in steam or gas-producer plants, but less than in alcohol. 

Oil engines using crude or fuel oil, though costly, are splendidly 
adapted to small or medium-sized drainage operations. The fuel is 

[Bull. 240] 


u. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240 


Drainage Investigations. 


Office of Experiment Statlo 



S DEPT OF AGRICULTURE — OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS 

DRAINAGE INVESTIGATIONS 

C 6 ELIK)TT, CHIEF 

MAP OF 

GREEN HARBOR RIVER AND ADJACENT COASTLINE 

Marshfield, Mass 
SHOWING RECLAIMED MARSHES 

Traced from map based on surveys made in 1096 &.’97 
8y Joint Board. Massachusetts Harbor ft. Land Commissioners 
and State Board of Health 


1910 

Elevations in feet and refer to Mean lcm Water 


VILLAGE 


\ Marshfield 
,\K R SUUor 


VILLAGE OF A 
BRANT ROCK \ 


.CLAIMED : MA'RSH 

,.,S34-AefjlE5-'' 


Webster 
BtHal Place 


VILLAGi 
GREEN H, 


Farm 


Blue Pish Rock 


yGreen Harbor 
\R R Station 


THZ NORRIS PETER*- TO., WASHINGTON, O. C 

Fig, is—Miip of (ireen Harbor River and adjacent coast line, Marshfield, Mass., showing reclaimed marshes. 






















































































•• 












































































































. 











































































67 


safe and economical, and no licensed attendant is required in operat¬ 
ing the plant. If the engines are properly installed and handled, 
the exhaust is not objectionable, nor does the cylinder become sooty. 
The beginning and end of the run should be made on kerosene. At 
4 cents per gallon the fuel cost is about 0.7 cent per horsepower per 
hour. 

Steam is an old and dependable power. In very large reclama¬ 
tions it continues to have the preference. Perhaps the most econom¬ 
ical plan, where it is necessary to maintain a number of isolated 
pumping units, is to generate electricity at a central power house 
and install electric pumps at the several substations. Small steam 
plants, however, are very wasteful of fuel and ill adapted to the 
intermittent character of drainage pumping. The large initial cost 
in foundations, settings, and appurtenances, the high grade of me¬ 
chanical ability demanded of the pumping engineer, and the con¬ 
stant and close attention necessary in steam plants render their 
operation unsatisfactory and uneconomical for ordinary drainage 
work. Where well-designed plants have been installed artificial 
drainage has proven less expensive than might be supposed, the 
annual operating expenses on large areas in England being sur¬ 
prisingly lo 

SUPPLEMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS. 

MARSH LANDS AT GREEN HARBOR, MARSHFIELD, PLYMOUTH 

COUNTY, MASS. 

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION. 

The largest and best-known reclaimed salt marshes on the New 
England coast are situated at Marshfield, Plymouth County, Mass., 
about 30 miles southeast of Boston and 10 miles north from 
Plymouth. 

The history of this reclamation is unique, and no description 
should omit the salient facts covering a period of more than 100 
years. The reclaimed marsh comprises an area of 1,'334 acres situ¬ 
ated in the southeast part of the town of Marshfield, and formerly 
drained by a small tidal stream known as Green Harbor River. 
This river, the reclaimed marsh, adjacent uplands, and coast lines are 
shown in figure 18. 

In 1794 the mouth of the river was about five-eighths of a mile 
south of the present outlet, but not long previous to May, 1806, a 
violent storm closed the former mouth with sand and converted the 
marshes into a lake. For a period of four or five years following 
the latter date, the old outlet remained sealed and the agricultural 
value of the marsh was temporarily destroyed. In the latter part 

[Bull. 240] 


of 1810 or early in 1811 another violent storm opened a new channel 
through the beach at substantially the location of the present mouth, 
though there is evidence to show that the breach had artificial as¬ 
sistance. In 1812 it was said that this channel at high tide would 
float a 100-ton vessel. 

In June, 1826, the inhabitants of the town petitioned the legislature 
for an act or law to preserve and secure from damage the whole of 
Marshfield Beach, alleging that the mouth of the river had of late 
years been in a shifting and uncertain state, being at one time choked 
by a sand bar, and at another time so open that not only was it diffi¬ 
cult to cut the salt hay on the marshes but that storm tides took the 
greater portion of the stacks of hay off the staddles and carried them 
on to the uplands and into the adjacent swamps. 

In February, 1827, legislative authority was granted the people to 
build and keep in repair a sea wall, palisades or hedge fences, but 
whatever work was done under the act is not now certain. 

About 1870, when the reclamation of the marshes was being con¬ 
sidered, certain investigations relative to the harbor were made under 
the direction of the United States Coast Survey, and in the report, 
which was prepared, is found the following statement: 

As a small local harbor it also lias some character. Once within the mouth of 
the river, a small vessel would find good anchorage, sufficient depth of water and 
complete shelter. The entrance, however, is shoaler than the river within, and 
really can not be called navigable at low water. As a harbor of refuge it will 
probably never be of use except by the local fishing boats and small pleasure 
yachts of the immediate neighborhood. 

Up to this time there had never been a way of crossing Green Har¬ 
bor River except by boat. From the village of Green Harbor on the 
south side to the village of Brant Rock on the north side was about 
7 miles by road, while in a direct line across the river it was about 
three-fourths of a mile. Better facilities were needed. Two meth- 
ods were projected and earnestly advocated. One was to build a 
bridge a short distance above the mouth of the river; the other to 
build a dike and road in connection therewith at a point farther up 
the river. 

On February 19, 1870, the legislature passed a law authorizing the 
county commissioners of Plymouth County to construct a bridge with 
a draw across Green Harbor River at a point not less than 2,000 feet 
above the mouth. 

On May 17, 1871, the legislature passed a law authorizing the pro¬ 
prietors of Green Harbor marsh to* erect a dam and dikes at or near 
Turkey Point, so-called, with one or more sluiceways and gates for 
the purpose of draining the marsh, improving the same, and prevent¬ 
ing flowage from the sea. The act also provided for the organization 
of the marsh owners as “ proprietors of general fields,” and for the 

[Bull, 240] 




69 


appointment of a commission to execute the work, which commission 
was authorized to contract with the county commissioners of Ply¬ 
mouth County for the erection of a highway bridge and dam without 
a draw. The act further provided— 

should shoaling take place above the level of mean low water in the channel of 
Green Harbor River, and its approaches below the dam and dike in consequence 
of the construction of said dam and dike, said shoaling shall be removed by the 
proprietors of Green Harbor marsh under the direction and to the acceptance of 
the board of harbor commissioners. And if the proprietors of said marsh shall 
fail to remove said obstructions in six months after due notice from said com¬ 
mission, then said commission shall cause the obstruction to be removed at the 
expense of said proprietors. 

The bill, without any conditions or stipulations as to shoaling, 
was unanimously reported by the joint committee on agriculture and 
also by the joint committee on harbors and met little opposition in 
either branch of the legislature, but the petitioners for the bill were 
induced and agreed that the fourth section—that relating: to shoal- 
ing—might be added. 

Pursuant to the provisions of the act,, commissioners were ap¬ 
pointed by the superior court at its June term, 1871. This commis¬ 
sion was headed b} T Clemens Ilerschel, civil and hydraulic engineer, 
now of New York, who during the year 1870 had made surveys and 
investigations for the interested marsh owners. Mr. Herschel’s report 
to the marsh owners was dated January 28, 1871. It recommended a 
dike having a top width of I feet, inside slope 14 to 1, outside slopes 
varying from 14 to 1 to 3 to 1 at the bottom, and a height of 8J feet 
above the level of the marsh, or 24 feet above the storm tide which 
destroyed Minots I.edge lighthouse in 1851. The material was to be 
deposited in horizontal layers, each rolled and rammed. The sluice 
was to be of timber construction and have two flumes, each 4 
feet square. The total estimated cost was $14,536.50. The report 
states that “ the marshes are all high marshes and are on a plane of 
about 8f feet above mean low water.” 

During the summer of 1871 the commissioners endeavored to nego¬ 
tiate with the county commissioners of Plymouth County to secure 
their cooperation in the building of a dike which should have a road¬ 
way on its top or along its shelter, but were unsuccessful, and finally 
decided to proceed independently. 

In June, 1872, the commissioners, having received bids which were 
unsatisfactory, resolved to do the work by day labor, though subse¬ 
quently several contracts were made for parts of the work. 

On November 1, 1872, in making the final closure in the current of 
the river, there was a “ blow-out ” beneath the 70-foot timber apron, 
which had been laid and weighted with stone and gravel. On a low 
ebb tide the imprisoned water in the marshes cut away 14 feet in 

[Bull. 240] 



depth of mud beneath the apron and canted the pile foundation down¬ 
stream. This unfortunate, but not rare, occurrence added greatly to 
the cost and delayed the completion of the dike until July 1, 1873. 
The total actual cost was $32,261.68. 

Following the building of the dike came certain changes in the 
harbor. While it is of course impossible to determine to just what 
extent the dike is responsible for these changes, since the history of 
the river shows that changes were taking place many years before 
the marshes were reclaimed, yet the evidence is conclusive that with 
the upper reaches of the river cut off there was a diminished tidal 
scour which facilitated the deposition in the harbor below the dike 
of the shifting sands brought in by the sea. These changes have un¬ 
doubtedly been an injury to the fishing interests of Green Harbor, 
and the dike itself has been a disappointment to the interests which in 
1870 had petitioned for a bridge. With the lapse of time much feel¬ 
ing and bitterness has arisen between the two factions, composed 
respectively of those in favor of the dike and of those who opposed 
it and desired its removal. Five attempts have been made to blow 
up the sluice or dike. 

In 1875 petitions were presented to the Massachusetts harbor com¬ 
missioners alleging that shoaling had taken place and asking for 
relief. The board, with its engineers, visited the harbor, and in its 
tenth annual report said: 

Shoaling has undoubtedly taken place both in the channel and its approaches 
above mean low water. Natural causes have contributed to this shoaling to 
some extent, and it would not be practicable to separate with precision the 
results of natural causes from the results of the dike, but it is clear that what 
has occurred must be mainly attributed to the dike. 

After further surveys, which confirmed the board’s opinion as to 
the responsibility of the dike, an order was issued directing the 
removal of the accumulation, but nothing was done. 

On May 11, 1877, the legislature passed an act authorizing the 
supreme judicial court sitting as a court of equity to hear and de¬ 
termine the rights of all parties under the original act of 1871 and 
authorizing the attorney general, under certain conditions, to com¬ 
pel any and all parties liable to remove shoaling or other obstruction, 
and on May 9, 1878, appropriated $2,000 to enforce the provisions of 
the original act. 

In 1879 the dike was widened by the town at an expense of about 
$3,000 to carry the road from Green Harbor to Brant Rock. This 
road is now a county road. 

On May 7, 1881, the act of 1870, authorizing a bridge over Green 
Plarbor River, was repealed. On May 22, 1888, an act was passed 
authorizing the county commissioners of Plymouth County, when¬ 
ever a majority of the legal voters of Marshfield present and voting 
[Bull. 240] 


71 


should lequest them by a vote so to do, to construct a bridge with a 
draw not less than 2,000 feet above the 1 mouth of the river. 

Jane 5, 1896, an act was passed requiring an examination by com¬ 
petent engineers representing a joint board, consisting of the harbor 
and land commissioners and the State board of health, into the con¬ 
dition of Green Harbor, the marshes, and dike, and the feasibility of 
the removal of the dike, and $12,000 was appropriated for the investi¬ 
gation. Very careful surveys and investigations were made under 
the direction of Messrs. F. W. Hodgdon and X. H. Goodnough, chief 
engineers, respectively, of the Massachusetts Board of Harbor and 
Land Commissioners and the State board of health. The expense 
of the work was $9,645.62. The findings of the joint board were that 
the dike should not be removed; that the increased volume of the 
ebb tide due to the subsidence of the marsh would create a tidal 
scour greater than any formerly known and cause the washing away 
and destruction of considerable property, including 25 cottages and 
a hotel; that submergence of the marsh by salt water would destroy 
the existing vegetation and convert the land into foul mud flats 
to the detriment of the health and attractiveness of the neighborhood; 
that the damage to vested property rights would be far greater than 
the benefit to the harbor; and that in dollars and cents the dredging 
of an anchorage basin with channel thereto with two jetties and a 
training wall, all at an estimated cost of $67,000, would be less costly 
than the removal of the dike, estimated to cost $27,200, plus $40,000 
for necessary jetties and training wall, plus $12,000 for land, cot¬ 
tages, and hotel likely to be washed away, a total of $79,200, ex¬ 
clusive of damage to the reclaimed marsh, which at the assessed 
valuation would probably amount to about $29,000. 

On May 26, 1898, the legislature passed an act authorizing the 
harbor and land commissioners to expend a sum not exceeding 
$67,000 for anchorage basin, channel, jetties, and training wall in 
accordance with the report of the joint board, and on May 29, 1899, 
$37,000 additional was appropriated. The stone jetties, extending 
from the shore into the sea on each side of the entrance channel to 
a point where there was a depth of 6 feet at mean low water, 
were commenced late in 1898 and completed in September, 1899, and 
a timber training wall was built across the mouth of Cut River to 
deflect the ebb current from this branch and keep its flow in line with 
the current from the main harbor. During 1900 a channel 60 feet 
wide on the bottom and 5 feet deep at mean low water, with an anchor¬ 
age basin 300 feet square at its inner end just inside the Narrows, was 
dredged, 92,000 cubic yards of material being excavated and deposited 
at sea. Observations in 1901, 1902, and 1904 showed that shoaling 
within the channel and anchorage basin was still in progress; in 1901 

[Bull. 240] 


72 


there was a depth of 2 feet in the channel at mean low water, and 
in 1902 it had been reduced to about 1 foot. 

On June 2, 1904, $10,000 was appropriated for further dredging at 
the discretion of the harbor and land commissioners, but it was 
decided inadvisable to do any more dredging until the southwesterly 
jetty had been built up to a sufficient height (this jetty was built 
upon soft sand and had settled considerably) to prevent the sand 
from being driven by wind and wave over the jetty and into the 
channel. 

On June 4, 1908, the legislature passed an act authorizing the 
board of harbor and land commissioners and the State board of 
health, acting jointly, to examine the harbor, dike, and marshes to 
determine the feasibility of restoring the harbor to its conditions 
prior to the construction of the dike by the removal of the dike in 
whole or in part or by placing therein sufficient tide gates or other¬ 
wise. As before, the investigation was conducted by Mr. Hodgdon 
and Mr. Goodnough; the expense was $1,227.34. The joint board in 
its findings, as did the previous joint board, believed it inexpedient 
to remove the dike and further said: 

The experiment of reclaiming the marshes above the present (like has been 
costly to the Commonwealth, of slight benefit to the marsh owners who built 
the dike, and a source of undoubted injury to this small harbor. The relief, 
however, from this injury can not, in our opinion, be obtained by removing 
the dike, because the level of the meadows as they now exist above the dike is 
so low that, if the dike were removed, a tidal scour would be established in 
Green Harbor capable of destroying much valuable property and creating a 
serious nuisance to the whole neighborhood. 

The engineers developed two plans to secure the ends sought. Plan 
1 was for the control of the dike by the State, the building therein 
of six masonry sluices with operating gates, utilizing the storage 
capacity of the river and main tributaries above the dike up to grade 
5 or possibly to grade 6 in winter, and permitting the escape of this 
impounded water on the ebb tide in such quantities and at such times 
that its scouring action would remove existing deposits and prevent 
further accumulations. With a capitalization of $25,000 for super¬ 
intendence and maintenance of sluices this plan was estimated to 
cost $82,200. 

Plan 2 did not disturb the dike but provided for the dredging of 
a channel 100 feet wide on the bottom, 7 feet deep at mean low water 
from the sea to the Narrows, the excavation of the whole area of the 
harbor from the Narrows to the dike to a depth of 5 feet at mean low 
water, and reconstruction of the southwesterly jetty together with 
pile and timber fence. This plan was estimated to cost $158,900. 
The joint board made no recommendation as to the expediency of 
the necessary expenditure in connection with either plan. The total 

[Bull. 240] 









73 


expenditures to date, November 30, 1910, by the State amount to 
$70,333.26, which includes construction and investigational work. 

Green Harbor Itiver has a total drainage area of about 7.5 square 
miles, while the tributary drainage area at the dike is 6.9 square 
miles. The upland watershed is covered with scattered farms and 
woodland. The reclaimed marsh comprises 1,334 acres below the 
level of ordinary high tide and a total of 1,696 acres below the 
level of the very high tides reached several times in the course of a 
year. In a direction perpendicular to the coast line the marshes are 
about 2J miles in length and parallel the sea for about If miles. 
They are separated from the sea by a narrow strip of land from 600 
to 3,000 feet in width, consisting partly of two upland areas, the 
sites of the villages of Brant Bock and Abington Village, and partly 
of shingly, sandy beaches and sand dunes. Both of these villages are 
summer resorts and have few permanent residents. South of the 
river are the villages of Duxbury Beach and Green Harbor, the 
former a summer resort and the latter a small all-the-year village 
inhabited principally by fishermen. The permanent population of 
the region about Green Harbor is small, probably not far from 200, 
while in summer the temporary residents number several thou¬ 
sand. Near the center of the reclaimed marsh is the farm formerly 
owned by Daniel Webster and near by the burial place of the Great 
Expounder. 

TIDES. 


The mean range of the tide is about 9.4 feet, and the high tides 
which may be expected several times a year reach 3.6 feet higher, or 
to about elevation 13. The great storm tides, April, 1851, when 
Minots Ledge lighthouse was destroyed, and November, 1898, when 
the steamer Portland with all on board were lost, probably reached 
to about elevation 14.5. It is known that the latter storm overtopped 
a portion of the dike and scoured a 50-foot breach down to the level of 
the marsh, and also broke through the sand dunes separating the 
marsh from the sea at several points, carrying sand, gravel, and 
debris on to the meadow. The hardest storms come from the north¬ 
east, but without any considerable shoaling at the harbor entrance, 
because of the protection afforded by Bluefisli Bock and the adjacent 
headland, a natural riprap of bowlders. South of the entrance 
stretches a sandy beach 6 miles in length to Gurnet Point. The har¬ 
bor opening widely to the south and southeast is the natural recep¬ 
tacle for the sand caught up by the wind and wave of southeasterly 
storms along this 6-mile stretch of beach. Glimpses of the contest 
between these two forces, the wind, wave, and flood tide on the one 
side, and the varying ebb tide on the other, together with man’s 
efforts to establish equilibrium between them, have already been given. 

[Bull. 240] 


74 


DRAINAGE CONDITIONS. 

Drainage has been secured mainly by the natural river with its 
tributary creeks. Considerable ditching has been done, but it has not 
been systematic nor general, nor have the ditches been well main¬ 
tained. At the dike the river is about 500 feet in width; at Wharf 
Creek, 2,200 feet above the dike, the river is 350 feet in width; near 
Bass Creek, about 1 mile from the dike, it is 125 feet in width; above 
this it narrows gradually until at the highway and railway bridges it 
is a very narrow stream, and the tiow ordinarily feeble. Through the 
greater body of the marsh the bed of the river and of Wharf and 
Bass Creeks are below the level of mean low water. At the highway 
bridge the bottom is about 4 feet above mean low water. The surface 
of the water in the river is practically level for a distance of over 
3 miles from the dike, but above that point the gradient rises quite 
rapidly. From the investigations made during the summer and fall 
of 1908 it appears that the interior water was generally between ele¬ 
vations 3.75 and 4, substantially the same as in 1897. Below the dike 
the conditions were very different, for where in 1897 the surface of 
the water was held by sand bars or shoals at elevation 3.5 at low tide, 
in 1908 it averaged about elevation l.G, or nearly 2 feet lower. These 
figures demonstrate one or both of two conditions. Either the leakage 
of the sluice to the land has increased tremendously since 1897 or else 
the sluice opening is too small for the tributary drainage area. There 
is evidence that both conditions obtain. Below the dike the discharge 
from the sluice is apparently maintaining a basin or channel which, 
starting with a depth of about 4 feet below mean low water near the 
gates, gradually shoals in a distance of 650 feet downstream to about 
1 foot below mean low water. 


SOIL. 

The reclaimed marsh is not now receiving, nor has it received for 
many years in the past, any considerable amount of deposit either 
from the uplands or the sea. The top 6 to 12 inches is generally turf, 
beneath which is a layer of muck or peat from 1 to 3 feet in thickness, 
the peat predominating in the upper part of the marsh where poor 
drainage has retarded decomposition. Near the larger creeks and 
adjacent to the sand dunes on the narrow barrier toward the sea there 
is a considerable percentage of sand. Beneath the 2 to 4 feet of soil, 
which is largely of vegetable origin, is a stratum of blue silt clay 
from 3 to G feet in thickness overlaying a firm sand bottom. The 
average depth to the sand bottom is about-8 feet, but at several places 
is from 20 to 25 feet. As would be expected in a soft, spongy, muck 
or peat soil, there lias been a considerable and rapid shrinkage or sub¬ 
sidence of the marsh following reclamation, and the large amount of 

[Bull. 240] 




75 

investigational work which has been done on the Green Harbor 
marshes affords reliable figures as to the amount of this settlement. 

Mr. Herschel states in his report of 1871 that the marshes are “ on 
a plane of about 8f feet above mean low water.” This is well con¬ 
firmed by the testimony of old residents who say that the marsh was 
formerly about at the level of ordinary high water but was sub¬ 
merged a foot or more by spring tides, and also by levels taken in 
1897 by the engineers of the joint board. They found the unre¬ 
claimed marsh just below the dike to have an average elevation of 
about 9.1 feet in 1897. The interior lands at the latter date were 
generally between elevations 7 and 7.5. It is apparent, therefore, 
that in a period of 24 years the subsidence has amounted on the 
average to about 20 inches, or at the rate of about 0.8 inch per year. 
In 1908 further leveling showed that the subsidence in 11 years had 
amounted to from 0.2 to 0.4 foot, or at the rate of about one-third of 
an inch per year. In 35 years following the completion of the dike 
the average settlement over the marsh has, therefore, been just about 2 
feet. It is well known that certain areas have settled much more than 
this and others considerably less. The shrinkage of the soil is of 
course mainly due to the decomposition of the vegetable matter 
therein. The small roots and fibers contained in samples of the soil 
from the reclaimed marsh were generally much discolored and de¬ 
composed, while in samples from below the dike they were bright 
and in a state of vigorous growth. Tests made in 1897 by the State’s 
engineer indicated that flooding the shrunken soil would not cause 
the surface of the meadows to rise appreciably. Chemical examina¬ 
tions also showed that the water entering the marsh at the upper end 
contained only about 3 parts of chlorin per 100,000; that the water 
of the sea contained about 1,740 parts per 100,000, and that from 
samples collected near the bottom of the river and main creeks the 
latter was generally about 70 per cent sea water. Much of the turf 
and muck soil had a specific gravity less than that of water. 

DIKE AND SLUICE. 

The dike is situated about 3,600 feet from the present mouth of 
the river at a place where the uplands approaching on both sides 
narrow the stream to about 500 feet in width. The top of the dike is 
about 22 feet wide and 1,600 feet long, and its average elevation 14.6 
feet above mean low water. It is stated that a line of sheet piling 
was driven across the river and surrounded by a filling of stones, 
gravel, and marsh soil, built out from the upland on each side. The 
outer slope averages about 2J to 1 with a facing of large and small 
bowlders roughly placed. The sluice is 65 feet long by 9.3 feet wide, 
outside dimensions. It has two flumes, each 4 feet high and 3.5 feet 

[Bull. 240] 


76 

wide inside, although the clear opening is reduced by the thickness 
of the 4-inch upright timbers sjiaced about 4 feet apart along the 
inner sides and which sustain the side walls and partition. The top 
is G-inch plank. The floor of the sluice is about 1.6 feet above mean 
low water and is practically level. Each flume has two automatic 
tide gates, one on the outer end of the sluice and one within but near 
the inner end. It is said that at the inner end of the sluice there 
were formerly two gates to be operated by hand and intended to con¬ 
trol the level of the interior water, but these have disappeared, leaving 
only the decaying framing timbers. (See PI. XI, fig. 1.) The 
sluice is in poor repair, and is leaking very badly. Observations 
made by the engineers of the joint board of 1896 showed that the 
leakage amounted to about 150,000 cubic feet at each tide, and it is 
stated to have increased since that time. The actual cost of dike and 
sluice in 1872 was as follows: 


Cost of dike and sluice. 

Laud, gravel, and stone_$2, 435. 20 

Lumber and piles_ 2, 842. 46 

Bolts, rods, spikes, etc_ 570. 41 

Labor_ 3, 941. 79 

Pile driving_ 3, 647. 70 

Gravel filling (two contracts)_ 12,049.01 

Sluices and tide gates_ 1, 520. 64 

Sundry expenses_ 960. 84 

Interest account_ 1,131. 71 

Legal expenses_._ 582. 00 

Salary of commissioners and collector’s fees_ 2, 579. 92 


Total_ 32,261.68 


There was received for interest on deposits and petty sales, $170.89. 
In 1879, $3,000 was expended in widening the dike and making a road 
along the top. 

CROPS. 

The uses to which the reclaimed marsh was being put in 1897 and 
1908 were, approximately, as follows: 


Crop acreage for marsh lands at Green Harbor , Mass. 



1897 

1908 

Hay and pasturage land. 

Acrcs. 
630 
25 
16 

2 

660 

Acres. 

750 

100 

Cranberry bogs. 

Reservoir for flooding bog. 

Truck and seeded areas. 

47 

430 

Unimproved and partially wooded. 



In October, 1910, the cranberry bogs were estimated at 125 acres, 
and the average yield was about 60 barrels per acre. The berries were 

[Bull. 240] 



































U. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240, Office Expt. Stations. Drainage Investigations. 


Plate XI 




Fig. 2.—Japanese Millet Grown on Land about 7 Feet Above Mean Low Water. 
MARSH LANDS AT GREEN HARBOR, MASS., SEPTEMBER 9, 1910. 
















77 


large and of excellent quality and for a series of years should net a 
yearly profit of not less than $135 per acre. Timothy, redtop, Japan¬ 
ese millet (see PI. XI, fig. 2), corn, onions, squashes, and rhubarb 
have all yielded splendidly the present season without fertilizer of 
any kind. Oats, rye, asparagus, and strawberries have been raised 
with pronounced success. 

In 1909 Dr. Stephen Henry tried the following experiment upon a 
2-acre piece of marsh. The land was divided into 4 plats of one-half 
acre each. The first plat was given 200 pounds of ground bone; the 
second plat, 100 pounds of sulphate of potash; the third plat, 200 
pounds of ground bone and 100 pounds of sulphate of potash; the 
fourth plat had nothing. On June 10 the four plats were planted 
to corn and harvested in the middle of October. There was no 
apparent difference in the yield of the four plats. In reseeding a 
field Dr. Henry breaks the land and puts on 6 or 8 casks of stone 
lime, placed in heaps at convenient distances, per acre. The lime 
is then slaked and spread with a shovel. This application is good 
for three years. The first and second years the yield of timothy and 
redtop is a strong 2 tons per acre, but the timothy gradually runs 
out and the third year the yield is not quite as good. A measured 
acre has produced 0,800 pounds of hay in a season, and another 
acre 34 bushels of rye and 5,454 pounds of straw. Dr. Wm. P. Brooks, 
director of the experiment station at Amherst, Mass., states in a recent 
publication 2 “ The best redtop that the author lias ever seen in any 
part of Massachusetts was produced on the reclaimed salt marshes in 
the town of Marshfield.” 

FINANCIAL. 

From such information as is available it appears that prior to 
reclamation the salt marsh was assessed for about $12 or $13 per acre. 
In 1888 1,054 acres were assessed for $24,035, the valuations ranging 
from $13 to $32 per acre, but averaging $23.37. In 1895 1,031 acres 
were assessed for $22,335, an average of $22.03 per acre, and in 1908 
1,000 acres were assessed for about $30,000, an average of $30 per 
acre. The market value of the improved areas at the present time is 
from $80 to $100 per acre, and the cranberry bogs would probably 
run up to several hundred dollars per acre. Reliable statistics as to 
the revenues from the fishing interests of the harbor are not at hand, 
but it is estimated that during the 1909 season at least $15,000 worth 
of lobsters were caught, besides a considerable quantity of fish. 

conclusion. 

The reclamation at Green Harbor is one of great natural oppor¬ 
tunity. There are few localities where 1,G00 feet of dike will pro- 

1 Report of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture for 1905, p. 363. 

[Bull. 240] 





78 


tect 1,334 acres of rich marsh or, taking in all the area to the level 
of the higher tides, nearly 1,700 acres, and where the upland drainage 
is so small. Beyond all question the dike is a legal structure, and the 
controversy and bitterness which have continued through the years 
since its construction are much to be regretted. Reclaiming should 
add and doubtless has added to the healthfulness and attractiveness 
of the locality and there can be no question but that the agricultural 
and financial success of the undertaking would have been very much 
greater than it has, had the marsh owners been allowed to remain in 
peaceable possession of their property. There should be a new sluice 
of larger capacity and set lower, and the land should be ditched in 
a systematic way. With these improvements well maintained, good 
management, and a better feeling in the community there is every 
reason to believe that thorough gravity drainage may be secured and 
a new era be opened up in the history of the Green Harbor reclama¬ 
tion. 

DIKED LANDS AT WELLFLEET, BARNSTABLE COUNTY, MASS. 

GEOGRAPHY. 

The town of Wellfleet is situated on Cape Cod, 106 miles by rail 
from Boston and 14 miles from Provincetown, at the extreme end of 
the cape. The town has an area of 20.8 square miles. On the west 
it has Cape Cod Bay, while the Atlantic Ocean beats against its 
eastern boundary, the approximate distance between the two shores 
being at this point about 5 miles. The outer coast is stern and un¬ 
broken, but on the bay side is a beautiful land-locked harbor. Along 
the ocean shore is a chain of a half dozen or more fresh-water ponds 
and from one of these, Herring Pond, in the northeasterly part of 
the town, flows Herring River, the largest in the town, which, flowing 
in a southwesterly direction, empties into Wellfleet Harbor. 

The town has a population of about 1,000, largely engaged in fish¬ 
ing or allied industries, especially the culture and catching of 
oysters. The agriculture of the community lias declined, due in part 
to the drift of the people to the cities and in part to the sandy, un¬ 
productive, almost barren character of much of the upland. The 
locality has great scenic attractions, however, which, combined with 
the invigorating breezes that blow across this narrow neck of land 
and the fine boating and bathing in the harbor, bring here a con¬ 
siderable and increasing number of summer residents. Its growth as 
a summer resort has been slower than might be expected, however, 
because myriads of mosquitoes, propagated in the stagnant waters of 
the Herring River and other marshes, have infested the whole lo¬ 
cality and constituted a serious drawback to any development. 

[Bull. 240} 


79 


HISTORY. 


Through the efforts of public-spirited citizens a campaign was 
inaugurated, which had three principal objects in view: (1) The 
extermination of the mosquito pest; (2) the drainage of the marshes 
that the agricultural resources of the community might be increased; 
and (3) the transformation of the foul, unsightly marshes and 
swamps into healthy and attractive areas. 

On February 1, 1904, the town appropriated $1,000 to drain the 
marsh and oil the stagnant pools, and one year later voted $1,000 
more to continue the work. In September, 1905, the late Henry Clay 
Weeks, of New York, then secretary of the American Mosquito Exter¬ 
mination Society, visited Wellfleet, addressed the citizens and, in a 
report dated September 15, 1905, advised the diking of Herring 
River near its mouth and the ditching and draining of the inclosed 
marsh, thereby removing the conditions favorable to the propagation 
of the mosquito. 

At a special town meeting held November 3, 1905, the services of 
Whitman and Howard, civil engineers of Boston, were authorized in 
investigating the feasibility and cost of diking Herring River. In 
their report dated February 5, 190G, the project is commended and 
plans and estimates are given for a dike 935 feet long at a point a 
little less than 1 mile above Wellfleet Harbor. The estimated cost 
of the dike was $15,944.75. On January 23, 1900, a petition and bill 
were presented to the legislature asking authority to build the dike, 
to borrow therefor, and for a State appropriation. The appropria¬ 
tion was denied, but the remainder of the bill was passed. 

Some of the citizens were apprehensive that the dike would cut off 
the food supply delivered by the river to the shellfish in the bay, and 
others that the harbor would be injured by shoaling. In these con¬ 
nections the statements of Dr. G. W. Field, chairman of the Massa¬ 
chusetts Fish and Game Commission, and ol* Messrs. A hitman and 
Howard, are of more than passing interest. 

Dr. Field’s statement is as follows: 


The department of fisheries and game of Massachusetts strongly advocate the 
diking of the lands surrounding Herring River in the town of Wellfleet, for the 
reason that it has been the invariable experience in other places that the shell¬ 
fish in bays into which runs the water from properly cultivated lands grow 
more rapidly than is the case where the water comes from barren lands, on the 
one extreme, or carries sewage pollution, on the other. The reason has been 
found to be that water from cultivated land carries with it a larger proportion 
of substances which serve as food for the microscopic plants and animals upon 
which such valuable shellfish as the oyster, quahaug, and clam depend for food. 
Therefore, the increase of such soluble substances in the waters of Honing 
River must increase the amount of shellfish food in Wellfleet Harbor and thus 
cause a more rapid growth and a large yield per acre of all the valuable shell¬ 
fish. To a considerable degree, also, it will attract larger numbers of young 

LBull. 240] 


80 


herring, porgies, smelts, and other surface-feeding fish, which at some period of 
their lives depend directly or indirectly upon these microscopic plants for food. 
These small, surface-feeding fish when abundant attract the rapacious species, 
e. g., mackerel, bluefish, squiteague, pollock, and others. Thus, by increasing the 
productiveness of both land and water, the good effects will be extended to 
practically every inhabitant of the town. 

Concerning the after effect of the dike on the harbor, Messrs. Whit¬ 
man and Howard in a report dated December 1, 1906, state: 

We do not think the building of the dike and cutting off the relatively small 
portion of salt water which now ebbs and flows above the dike location will re¬ 
duce the velocity of the current so that there will be any visible detrimental 
effect in keeping clear the channels below. 

The area of creek and flats above the proposed dike is about SO acres, and this 
area will hold at mean high tide about 12.000.000 cubic feet of water. A 
rough computation shows that this amount is about 15 per cent of the amount 
of water contained in the flats and creek above a line drawn northeasterly 
from the point of Great Island, i. e., the whole of Herring River to its mouth. 
Another calculation shows that this 12,000,000 cubic feet of water is but about 
2 per cent of the water contained in the basin and estuaries above or northerly 
from a line drawn from the point of Great Island to Indian Neck. This line 

4k 

from Great Island to Indian Neck is about the northerly end of the Wellfleet 
Harbor channel proper, and all the waters above this line are conducive to 
the keeping open of the channel or to moving the sands which tend to fill up 
the channel, as the case may be. 

At spring tides this proportion would be slightly augmented, but we do not 
think it would be material in any case. 

In February, 1907, Dr. Elwood Mead, of the United States De¬ 
partment of Agriculture, visited Wellfleet, looked over the ground, 
examined the plans, and in a subsequent report gave the project his 
hearty support. The legislature was again petitioned for an appro¬ 
priation, this time for $10,000. A bill granting $10,000, an equal 
amount to be raised by the town, was passed. In order, however, to 
meet objections which had been raised as to the constitutionality of 
the act and the legality of certain acts at town meeting, a new bill 
amending the bill of the previous year was presented in the legis¬ 
lature of 1908. This became a law without opposition. A special 
town meeting on March 28, 1908, accepted the amendatory act, and the 
town’s appropriation of $10,000 was finally deposited with the State 
treasurer. On January 10, 1908, a hearing was given by the War 
Department, but no opposition to the project developed. By the act 
the construction of the dike was placed in charge of the State board 
of harbor and land commissioners. The lowest bid for the work was 
$16,250. Construction was begun in August, 1908, and completed 
late in 1909. The land, sand, and gravel necessary were given by the 
town free of cost. 

DESCRIPTION. 

Herring River has a drainage area above the dike of about 5,800 
acres, or 9 square miles, of which 1,100 acres, including water sur- 

[Bull. 240] 






U. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240, Office Expt. Stations. Drainage Investigations 


Plate XII 



General View of Dike at Low Tide, Showing Method of Protection, Diked Lands at Wellfleet, Mass., September 22, 1910, 

[High tide comes about 1 foot below top of facing.] 















U. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240, Office Expt. Stations. Drainage Investigations. 


Plate XIII. 




Fig. 2.—Diking Operations, Showing Method of Placing Material. 


DIKED LANDS AT WELLFLEET, MASS., SEPTEMBER 22, 1910. 


















































































































































u. S. Deot. of Agr., 8ul. 240, 



Drainage Invosbgattens 


Office of bxperimeot Stations 


Roadway, EU7.7 


Roadway, El. 17.7 

V T:T; rr:.*r:r* 


7 '?■ •'??*“ •V * : ■ ' V .* * r " ’T 7 ' r -y . • . » • ? , 


Marsh Mud 
and Sods - 


f/./fii? 


°f Concrete Wall, Et 18 0 


■Marsh Mud 
, and Sods 


Outside 

App r oxima t e M.H ' W. 


Inside 


Sand 

Fill 


Core Wall of Concrete 
(23'long) 


Core Wall 
of 

Sheet Piling 


Core Wall 
of 

Sheet Piling 


-6 Granite 
Chips 


/8 Granite quarry— 
grout paving 


~K *12 Bolt 


8 HP. 


SLUICE 


^6*6\ Strug: - 
Approximate fed offryer 


-Mmk 




8 x/0 HP Sills 


< Rock Pavinq 
20'*35'*3' “ 


Gran ite Chips 


6 *oH P. 


■8*10 HP u - 

Sheet P / / 


Rock Pavinq 
30'* IP'* 2 


Granite Chips 


Longitudinal 


Section through Sluice 


Cross Section of Sluice 


Roadway 


Plank Coyer, 


Marsh Mud 
and Sods— 


f'6 *8 Stringer 


Outside 


Inside 


Marsh Mud\ 
and Sods i 


Sand 


Approximate M H W. 5 


Sand 


Sand Fill 


Marsh Mud 
and Sods 


2,8 I s 


GATE CHAMBER 


lip' Approximate Bed of River 


rd H.P 


8 HP 




10*12 


Section of Dike 


6 H P. 


6"HP v 5"*!0"HP 


8 x/0 H. P. 


Sheet Piling. 

Gate Chamber Details (Enlarged) 






From plans of the Massachusetts Boar d of Harbor and Land Commissioners ^———— 

?M£ HO*>° ~ ‘FTf 45 CO »*.H wo ol O 

Fit. 19, Sections of dike and details of 9!uice and gate chamber, Wei meet. Mass. 




















































































































































































IgucnHi 


























































s^iQ 'to noiJosS l6oiqvT 










— 

















































81 


faces, are marsh. The marsh land lies in narrow strips of perhaps 
1,000 feet in width along the river and the three principal tidal creeks 
which meander through them. The adjacent uplands consist of steep, 
sandy, almost bare hills, sometimes rolling, which, long since de¬ 
forested, have been deprived of their fertility through long-continued 
erosion by wind and water. The marsh generally is close to mean 
high water level, though some of the distant parts appear to be as 
much as 1 foot or more below. 


Inside the dike is a natural basin which, with creeks running into 
it, has an area of about 80 acres, and through which the tide for¬ 
merly ebbed and flowed for upward of a mile above the present 
dike. Above this the marshes were considered as brackish or fresh 
and not salt. 


The river at the dike is about 500 feet wide, and its sandy bottom 
is from 1 to 2 feet above mean low water in the harbor. At low 
tide on September 22, 1910, when it was said that about an average 
low tide prevailed, there were 10 inches of water on the floor of the 
sluice. (See PI. XIII, fig. 1.) The mean tidal range at Wellfleet 
is 10.7 feet, the spring range 12.3 feet, and the neap range 9 feet. 


DIKE AND SLUICE. 

The dike (see Pis. XII and XIII, figs. 1 and 2 and fig. 19) is a 
sand embankment about 900 feet long and 22 feet wide on top, and 
has side slopes of 14 to 1. The crown of the roadway along the top is 
at grade 17.7 feet above mean low water, or about 7 feet above ordi¬ 
nary high tide. The maximum bottom width is about 68 feet. The 
filling was obtained from pits in the hills at each end of the dike, and 
was hauled in automatic side dumping cars of about 3 cubic yards 
capacity. The 20-inch gauge track was laid so that the cars ran out 
from the pit by gravity; the empty cars were pushed back on the level 
track along the dike by two men and drawn up the grade to the pit by 
a rope and hoisting engine. On September 22, 1910, the writer visited 
diking operations at South Wellfleet, where the same track, cars, 
and methods of placing the material were being employed, except 
that the cars were returned to the pit entirely by hand. The sand 
was being placed at a labor cost of about 8 cents per cubic yard, the 
haul being about 450 feet. (See PI. XIII, fig. 2.) 

Along the center line of the dike from end to end 4-inch splined 
spruce sheeting was driven about 6 feet into the river bed, the top 
of the sheeting extending nearly to the top of the dike. The up¬ 
stream slope of the dike is protected by a layer of marsh mud and 
sods 3 feet in thickness, while the downstream slope, up to 1 foot 
above mean high water, has a heavy 18-inch granite quarry grout 
facing backed by a 6-inch layer of granite chips. (See PI. XIII, 
100940 °— Bull. 240—11 -6 



fig. 1.) Some of the blocks in this facing weigh upward of 3 tons, 
and the whole construction appears to be very safe and durable. 
Above the heavy facing the protection is the same as on the upstream 
slope. The top of the dike is surfaced with a mixture of fine sand 
and clay silt, and is sufficiently compact to make a fair roadway for 
light teaming. 

The sluice is about 52 feet long, 20.7 feet wide, and the floor 2 
feet above mean low water outside. It has three flumes, each 6 feet 
wide and 4 feet 8 inches high inside. The top and sides are longleaf 
Georgia pine, 8 inches in thickness. The floor consists of four 8- 
inch by 10-inch hard pine longitudinal mud sills, covered with 6- 
inch by 6-inch hard pine crosspieces, close laid, which in turn are 
covered with a 2-inch hard-pine flooring laid lengthwise of the 
sluice. Above and just in front of the gates, and resting on 10-inch 
by 12-inch hard-pine timbers in the roof, is a concrete arched gate 
chamber, with a manhole 4J feet square extending to the top of the 
dike, where there is plank cover set flush with the roadway. The 
arch is 12 inches thick, semicircular, and has a span of 8 feet 6 
inches. The gates are 5 feet 1 inch wide, 6 feet 5 inches long, and 
3f inches thick, of longleaf pine and bolted with Tobin bronze 
bolts. Two of the gates are of the swing type, each hung with 
three heavy patented cast-iron link hinges with bronze pins, and 
counterweighted by a system of weights and pulleys. The third 
gate, intended for use in emergencies, or for allowing the passage of 
fish, is an ordinary wooden sluice gate, raised and lowered vertically 
by a Tobin bronze screw operated by a crank at the top of the dike. 
The leakage past the gates is very small. The three gates, including 
hardware and frames (except the frame of the fixed gate), were 
furnished by an East Boston foundry for the sum of $682.80. 

The wing bulkheads (see PI. XIII, fig. 1) are of spruce, 4 inches 
thick, with hard-pine splines. 

The method of making the closure in the river, several of the 
attempts being not wholly successful, is thus described by Mr. F. W. 
Hodgdon, chief engineer of the Massachusetts harbor and land com¬ 
missioners, under whose direction the work was done: 

The closure was made at low tide during a course of neap tides. After build¬ 
ing out from both ends until a gap of about 100 feet remained, the sheeting 
across the gap was driven and cut off as soon as driven at about 18 inches 
above the river bottom at the level of one of the stringers used as a frame for 
guiding it. The pieces sawed off were saved to be replaced and spiked in place 
when the closure was made. Then the river bottom on both sides was protected 
with sand bags. The frame for guiding the sheeting was then strengthened 
by additional piles and stringers and was braced by wire guy ropes from the 
heads of the piles to other piles and heaps of quarry grout placed about 
100 feet above and below the center of the dike. 

[Bull. 240] 














83 


At low tide on the day selected the pieces of the sheeting which had been cut 
off and saved were replaced and spiked in position, closing the gap before the 
tide rose against it. Two gangs of four men each were employed and finished 
just as the tide rose against the sheeting. 

the placing of the sand was at once begun, but it was nearly two weeks before 
the embankment was filled across the gap. The sand filling below high-tide 
1°' el was either dumped into the water or was covered by the tide soon after 
it was deposited, and very little attempt was made to ram or otherwise com¬ 
pact it. It was mostly dumped from a trestle at about the level of the top of 
the dike from automatic side dumping cars which carried about 3 cubic yards 
each. 

The cost of the dike and sluice to date, November 30, 1910, is as 
follows: 

Cost of dike arid sluice at Well fleet , Mass. 


Embankment (contract price)_$16,250.00 

Gates and frames_ 682. 80 

Riprap (additional outside contract)_ 505.14 

Plans, engineering, and maintenance_ 2, 530. 05 

Repairs on leak_ 580. 87 


Total- 20,548.86 


In addition the town has expended $547.70 in building two small 
dikes at other points where very high tides entered the marsh. These 
dikes are about 300 feet long, 8 feet wide on top, have steep slopes 
and no artificial protection, since the foreshore is so high that only 
spring tides reach them at all. 


DITCHES. 

Very little ditching has yet been done more than to open up small 
ditches for the removal of surface water and the abatement of con¬ 
ditions favorable to mosquito propagation. During 1910 the town 
spent $3,000 for this work. In a small way, the soil has demon¬ 
strated its capability of producing quite a variety of agricultural 
products. 

THE MARSH LANDS OF NOVA SCOTIA AND NEW BRUNSWICK. 

GEOGRAPHY AND EXTENT. 

Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island constitute 
what are known as the maritime provinces of Canada. 

Nova Scotia, the most easterly, is a jagged oblong peninsula about 
360 miles in length from Glace Bay, on the island of Cape Breton in 
the northeast, to Cape Sable, at the southwest extremity. It has an 
average width of 60 miles, an area of 21,428 square miles, and a popu¬ 
lation of 459,574—about 22 to the square mile. The surface is trav¬ 
ersed by several well-defined ranges of moderate elevation. The 
North and South Mountains parallel the Bay of Fundy shore and. 

[Bull. 240] 










84 


inclose the beautiful Annapolis Basin, River, and Valley, where De 
Monts in 1604 founded the first settlement by Europeans north of the 
Gulf of Mexico. This section is famous for its apple orchards. The 
Cobequid Mountains, traversing Colchester and Cumberland Counties 
at the head of the bay, have extensive mineral deposits. 

The rivers are not of any great navigable length and are conspicu¬ 
ous mainly because of the extensive marshes through which they flow. 
The principal streams entering the Bay of Fundy are the Annapolis, 
with Annapolis, Granville, Bridgetown, and Laurencetown on or near 
it; the Canard, Cornwallis, and Gaspereau, with Wolfville and Grand 
Pre near their mouths; the Avon, with Windsor at its mouth; the 
Shubenacadie, with Maitland as a port; the Salmon, with Truro at its 
mouth; and the Herbert, Maccan, Nappan, La Planche, and Misse- 
guash, with the thriving city of Amherst not far from their outlets, 
the latter river constituting the boundary line between Nova Scotia 
and New Brunswick. Along the lower reaches of these and other 
smaller streams are extensive areas of marsh land, the aggregate of 
which is only very approximately known, but is probably more than 
120 square miles. Away from the shores the land is rocky and was 
formerly heavily wooded, but lumbering operations have been ex¬ 
tensive and reforestation has been neglected. 

While agriculture, lumbering, mining, and fishing are the principal 
industries, the steel plants at Sydney, Londonderry, and New Glas¬ 
gow and the manufacturing establishments at Yarmouth, Windsor, 
Truro, Amherst, and Dartmouth have contributed much to the pros¬ 
perity of the people, who are characterized by piety, patriotism, 
honesty, and respect for the law. 

Nova Scotia is joined to the Province of New Brunswick by the 
Isthmus of Chignecto, which at its narrowest place between Cumber¬ 
land Basin and the waters of Northumberland Strait is only 15 
miles wide. 

New Brunswick is in form an irregular square and contains 27.985 
square miles and a population of 331,120—about 12 to the square 
mile. For the most part it has navigable waters on three sides. 

The principal rivers emptying into the Bay of Fundy are the 
Aulac, the Tantramar, with Sackville near its mouth; the Memram- 
cook, with Dorchester near it; the Peticodiac, with Moncton about 20 
miles above its mouth; and the St. John, with the thriving maritime 
city of St. John at its outlet. The Province is more heavily tim¬ 
bered than Nova Scotia, spruce, hemlock, and tamarack forests 
stretching for many miles. 

The diked marsh lands are the most fertile in the Province. 

The two Provinces are divided by the Bay of Fundy, the “ Back¬ 
water of the Atlantic,” a long trumpet-shaped body of water, pos¬ 
sessing probably the most remarkable tides in the world. 

[Bull. 240] 












85 


The bay lias a length, including Chignecto Bay and Cumberland 
Basin up to Amheist or through Minas Channel and Basin, of about 
loO miles, "while its width diminishes from about 50 miles opposite 
the international boundary to about 30 miles where the Cobequid 
Mountains cleave the waters and form the two converging arms, that 
of Chignecto Bay and Cumberland Basin on the north and that of 
Minas Basin and Cobequid Bay on the east. 

The bay lies in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction, be¬ 
tween Avails increasing in height toward its head, and the two taper¬ 
ing arms serve to lengthen and intensify its trumpetlike character. 


CLIMATE. 


Rainfall data are not readily obtainable in the different sections 
of Nova- Scotia and New Brunswick. It appears, however, that the 
mean annual rainfall at Truro is about 43 inches; at Moncton, 45 
inches; at St. John, 4 ( inches; and at Charlottetown, Prince Edward 
Island, 41.5 inches. The distribution through the se\ r eral months of 
the year, as shown by records kept for a long series of years at St. 
John, is as folloA\ T s: January, 5.55; February, 3.93; March, 3.80; 
April, 2.50; May, 3.6G; June, 2.72; July, 3.29; August, 4.64; Sep¬ 
tember, 3.08; October, 4.13; November, 4.71; and December, 5.16 
inches. 

Midwinter, therefore, would seem to have the greatest precipita¬ 
tion, closely followed by the late fall. From the temperature records 
kept at St. John it appears that the mean annual temperature is 
about 41° F., ranging from a maximum of 89° to a minimum of 
21° below zero. 

Prof. W. F. Ganong, of Smith College, Northampton, Mass., from 
the records of the meteorological office at Ottawa, is authority for the 
following table on temperatures at St. John : 


Average monthly and annual mean temperatures at St. John, New Brunswick. 



Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Year. 


°F. 

°F. 

°*F. 

° F. 

°F. 

° F. 

° F. 

°F. 

°F. 

°F. 

° F. 

°F. 

° F. 

Mean highest.... 

28.2 

27.6 

34.3 

46.4 

57.2 

64.4 

68.8 

68.8 

63.3 

51.8 

43.3 

32.4 

48.9 

Mean lowest. 

9.0 

9.7 

18.3 

30.8 

40.4 

48.3 

53.2 

53.7 

47.8 

37.6 

28.9 

15.1 

32.7 

Mean tempera¬ 
ture . 

18.6 

18.7 

26.3 

38.6 

48.8 

56.3 

61.0 

61.3 

55.6 

44.7 

36.1 

23^7 

40.8 

Mean daily range. 

19.2 

17.9 

16.0 

15. 6 

16.8 

16.1 

15.6 

15.1 

15.5 

14.2 

14.4 

17.3 

16.2 

Absolute highest. 

50.0 

49.0 

52.0 

71.7 

75.0 

86.7 

88.9 

85.0 

85.0 

72.4 

61.0 

54.5 

88.9 

Absolute lowest.. 

-21.0 

-15.0 

-10.0 

12.0 

27.0 

35.0 

41.0 

43.0 

32.5 

21.4 

-1.5 

-19.5 

-21.0 


The prevailing winds are southwesterly. Like the tides, every 
southerly wind takes the course of the bay, is condensed and concen¬ 
trated and exercises a marked effect on the vegetation, on and adja¬ 
cent to the marshes, Avhere trees or bushes are bent to the northeast 
and show a marked development of branches on that side. 

[Bull. 240] 



























86 


TIDES. 

Although the apparent width of the Bay of Fundy at its mouth is 
about 50 miles, its actual deep-water passage is reduced by Grand 
Manan Island and contiguous shoals to about 24 miles, of which 20 
miles has an average depth of about GOO feet. 

The tidal wave progressing across from the South Atlantic and 
pressing against the submerged border of the continent, undergoes a 
lateral compression in the mouth of the bay and creates through 
the passage a 3-mile-per-hour current, which continues up the rough, 
uneven grade of about 4 feet per mile of the floor of the bay with 
varying velocities into all the indentations and rivers. Through 
Parrsboro Passage the tides rush with a velocity of 10 miles per 
hour. Wherever projecting headlands or concealed submarine ledges 
hinder the progress of this tremendous current, powerful erosion is 
going on, and the swirling waters catching up the detritus deposit 
the same as their velocity is checked in the ascent of the rivers or by 
overspreading the marshes. All are agreed that the Bay of Fundy 
marshes have been built up in this way from the red Permocarbo- 
niferous sandstone forming the sides and bottom of the channels, 
and not from material brought down by the rivers, which are gen¬ 
erally small and have wooded or swampy watersheds and carry little 
in suspension above the reach of the tides. 

The following table gives the mean, spring, and neap ranges of the 
tide at several places, but it should be stated that in some cases they 
are theoretical rather than actual, for the reason that sand bars 
pond ” in the low water and prevent its falling to true low-tide level 
in the bay. 


Range of tides at different points on the Bay of Fundy. 


Place. 

Range of tide in feet. 

Mean. 

Spring. 

Neap. 

Annapolis, Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia. 

25.1 
42.0 

44.2 
39.6 

41.2 
20.9 

28.7 
48.0 
50.5 
45.2 
47.0 

23.8 

21.2 

35.5 

37.4 

33.5 
34.9 

17.6 

Horton Bluff, Minas Basin, Nova Scotia. 

Noel Bay, Minas Basin, Nova Scotia. 

Sackville, Cumberland Basin, New Brunswick. 

Moncton, Petitcodiac River, New Brunswick. 

St, John, New Brunswick... 



On October 5, 1869, occurred the famous Saxby tide, the highest 
ever recorded in the Bay of Fundy, the tide rising in different parts 
of the bay from 4 to 8 feet above high-water springs and submerging 
the marsh lands generally. High-water spring tides run about 6 
feet above high-water neaps; low-water springs fall about 5 feet 
below low-water neaps. 

[Bull. 240] 
























87 


Levels taken by the engineers of the projected Cliignecto Ship 
Railway, probably in 1893, show: (1) That mean sea level at the 
head of the Bay of Fundy and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is prac¬ 
tically the same; (2) that at ordinary high water the waters of the 
former are 18 feet above and at ordinary low water are 18 feet below 
mean sea level; (3) that the Saxby tide rose more than 29 feet above 
mean sea level, and (4) that extreme low tides may fall nearly 24 
feet below mean sea level. 

In the Petitcodiac River at Moncton, New Brunswick, the rise of 
the tide is so rapid that it comes in as a nearly perpendicular wall 
of water from 1 to 6 feet in height, and is known as the “ bore.” The 
bore is the broken water at the front edge of a long water slope, 
which advances up the river and travels about 8J miles per hour. 
The arrival is the first indication of the rising tide, which breaks into 
a bore about 8 miles below Moncton and continues up the river for 



21 miles, or about 33 miles from the bay. The form of the bore is 
shown by figure 20. 

Levels show that high tide, and, consequently, the marsh, is higher 
near the tide heads of these rivers than at their mouths, due to the 
tendency of the waters to pile up from the inertia of their rush. The 
phenomenon of two distinct columns of water flowing in opposite 
directions in the same channel at the same time can be observed. 


The greater weight of sea water by 1.6 pounds per cubic foot, oi 2^ 
per cent, causes the flood tide to be forced in a wedge-shaped column 
under the descending fresh water, stirring up and placing in suspen¬ 
sion a large amount of sediment which the ebb tide removes. The 
amount of mud carried by the tides is astonishing, especially on the 
first of the flood and the last of the ebb. The greatest quantity is 


[Bull. 240] 



























88 


found in the rivers emptying out at low tide, when it may amount to 
as much as 4 per cent by volume; at flood tide it seldom reaches 2 
per cent. 

The deposit from a single tide may range from a mere film on the 
higher parts of a marsh to several inches in the depressions, and old 
lake bottoms have been filled 1 foot in the course of five or six days, 
though ordinarily the rate is much less. 

som. 

The soil of the marshes is a very fine, reddish sand and silt with 
from 5 to 10 per cent of clay and a somewhat less percentage of 
organic matter. When saturated it weighs about 101 pounds per 
cubic foot and contains 41 pounds of water, or about G6 per cent 
of its volume is interstitial space. Very little grit can be detected 
by the fingers or teeth. 

The depth of marsh mud is believed to be very great. A boring at 
Aulac showed a depth of 80 feet overlying a 29-foot stratum of peat. 
This, together with other evidences, such as buried forests, stumps, 
and the presence of certain species of shells, indicate that the whole 
region is much depressed from the position it occupied in later post¬ 
glacial periods. 

Borings at the wharves in Amherst, Nova Scotia, show depths of 
10 to 25 feet of marsh mud, followed by sand, gravel, sometimes blue 
clay and peat, and an unknown depth of bowlder clay. 

At Moncton, New Brunswick, a boring showed 12 feet of marsh 
mud, followed by 228 feet, mainly of red clay, before striking ledge. 

The following mechanical and chemical analyses have been fur¬ 
nished by courtesy of Prof. W. F. Ganong, of Smith College, 
Northampton, Mass.: 

[Bull. 240] 


89 

Mechanical and chemical analyses of tide marsh soils from the Bay of Fundy . 


Samples. 


Analyst. 


Mechanical 
analy sis 
by Prof. 
G. E. 
Stone. 1 


Chemical 
analy s i s 
by Prof. 
F. T. 
Shutt. 3 


Constituents. 

I. Timo¬ 
thy 
marsh 
unplowed 
for 40 
years. 

II. Low 
marsh 
with 
poor 
vegeta¬ 
tion. 

III. 

Brought 
in fresh 
by tide. 

IV. Blue 
mud 
from 18 
inches 
under 
surface. 

V. From 
30 inches 
below 
surface 
under 
canal 
above 
Point de 
Bute, 
Nova 
Scotia. 

VI. 

From 

river 

Habitant, 

Nova 

Scotia. 


Per cent. 

Per cent. 

Per cent. 

Per cent. 

Per cent. 

Per cent. 

'Water. 

2. 000 

2. 600 

1. 800 

3 160 


q aha 

Organic matter. 

6. 505 

10. 920 

6.200 

7 360 


q 200 

Gravel, 2-1 millimeters di- 

.025 

.000 

1.125 

.125 


. 125 

ameter. 







Coarse sand, l-0.5millimeters. 

.275 

.400 

3.100 

.325 


.260 

Medium sand, 0.5-0.25 milli- 

4.125 

.285 

2.025 

2.400 


1.485 

meter. 







Fine sand, 0.25-0.1 milli- 

9. 360 

1.900 

4. 225 

6. 210 


4.060 

meter. 







Very fine sand, 0.1-0.05 milli- 

22.185 

1. 300 

45.275 

33. 885 


46.010 

meter. 







Silt, 0.05-0.01 millimeter_ 

36.165 

50.110 

14.125 

20. 375 


26. 800 

Fine silt, 0.01-0.005 milli- 

10. 390 

17.735 

12.400 

10.865 


8. 710 

meter. 







Clay, 0.005-0.001 millimeter. 

8. 585 

10. 530 

9. 660 

15. 200 


5.825 

Total. 

99. 815 

2 95. 780 

99. 935 

99. 905 


99. 875 







[Organic and volatile matter. 

6.54 

10.60 

6.02 

6. 77 

3.10 

4.14 

Clay and sand. 

75. 29 

73.18 

75. 83 

76.01 

84. 48 

75. 59 

Oxid of iron and alumina ... 

14. 72 

12. 64 

13. 79 

14. 01 

9. 87 

11.71 

Lime. 

.239 

.234 

.652 

.409 

.288 

1.40 

Magnesia. 

.513 

.397 

.283 

.183 

. 154 

.48 

Potash. 

.817 

.852 

.902 

.996 

.646 

.25 

Phosphoric acid. 

.136 

.124 

.146 

.094 

.110 

.15 

Soluble silica. 

.091 

.059 

.063 

. 056 

. 063 


Carbonic acid, etc., unde- 

1.654 

1. 914 

2.314 

1.472 

1.289 


termined. 







Total.. 

100.0 

100.0 

100. 0 

100. 0 

100. 0 


Nitrogen. 

.182 

.338 

.122 

.106 

.062 

.128 

Available potash. 

.0088 

.034 

. 074S 

.0073 

. 030 

.06 

Available phosphoric acid... 

.026 

.016 

. 0466 

.0436 

.0354 

.05 

Available lime. 

.0626 

.0449 

.397 

. 0792 

. 108 


Reaction. 

Acid. 

Acid. 

(*) 

Acid. 

Acid. 


Common salt. 

.037 

1.048 

4.16 

.939 

.217 

.86 


1 Professor of botany, Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass. 

2 Obviously a considerable error; cause unknown. 

3 Chief chemist, Experimental Farms, Ottawa. 

4 Neutral or slightly alkaline. 


As will be seen from the table and the records of test borings, the 
Bay of Fundy soils are remarkable for their fineness, homogeneity, 
and depth, and it is undoubtedly due to these qualities that the lands 
remain unimpaired after the croppings of two centuries. The soluble 
minerals tend to diffuse evenly throughout the marsh, and as the 
ground water is practically motionless little or none of the valuable 
soluble mineral matter is lost, as is the case in well-drained upland 
soils, but by evaporation from the surface, the transpiration of plants, 
and the natural processes of diffusion, an upward movement is created 
from below which ever supplies to the marsh vegetation the elements 
required for its growth. Experiment and experience both show that 

[Bull. 240] 












































































90 


a 1-foot layer of mud will not maintain fertility for so long a time as 
a 6-foot layer. 

Because of the fine texture of the soil, it readily holds and delivers 
moisture to the plant, but aeration is difficult, and hence it follows 
that the soil is much better adapted to grasses and grains which have 
superficial or slender roots, than to truck crops or any woody growths 
which are thick rooted and require more air. 

Although the deposits as laid down by the tide are of a red color, 
there are areas of greater or less extent where the mud is blue and 
unproductive. These areas are low and poorly drained, and the soil, 
subjected to long-continued fresh-water saturation, has undergone 
chemical changes, which are described by Dawson in his Acadian 
Geology as follows: 

The red marsh derives its color from the peroxid of iron. In the gray or blue 
marsh the iron exists in the form of a sulphuret, as may easily be proved by 
exposing a piece of it to a red heat, when a strong sulphurous odor is exhaled, 
and the red color is restored. The change is produced by the action of the 
animal and vegetable matters present in the mud. These in their decay have 
a strong affinity for oxygen, by virtue of which they decompose the sulphuric 
acid present in the sea water in the forms of sulphate of magnesia and sulphate 
of lime. The sulphur thus liberated enters into combination with hydrogen 
obtained from the organic matter or from water, and the product is sulphureted 
hydrogen, the gas which gives to the mud its unpleasant smell. This gas dis¬ 
solves in the water which permeates the mud, enters into combination with the 
oxid of iron, producing a sulphuret of iron, which, with the remains of the 
organic matter, serves to color the marsh blue or gray. The sulphuret of iron 
remains unchanged while submerged or water soaked, but when exposed to the 
atmosphere the oxygen of the air acts upon it and it passes into sulphate of 
iron or green vitriol—a substance poisonous to most cultivated crops, and which 
when dried or exposed to the action of alkaline substances deposits the hydrated 
brown oxid of iron. Hence the bad effects of disturbing blue marsh, and 
hence also the rusty color of the water coming from it. The remedies for this 
condition of the soil are draining and liming. Draining admits air and removes 
the saline water; lime decomposes the sulphate of iron and produces sulphate of 
lime and oxid of iron, both of which are useful substances to the farmer. 

Marsh mud lias been extensively used on poor upland soils, and its 
use is said to serve a better purpose than the common commercial 
fertilizers, because it does not act as a quick stimulant, leaving the 
soil poorer, but seems permanently to enrich the land. 

Mr. Gustavus Bishop, of Greenwich, Nova Scotia, relates that old 
apple trees which had been bearing only every other year and a poor 
quality of fruit were made to bear annually more and better apples 
by simply spreading several loads of marsh mud around them. 


DIKES. 

The dikes go back to the Acadian French in the middle of the 
seventeenth century, who not long after the first occupation of the 

[Bull. 240] 


U. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240, Office Expt. Stations. Drainage Investigations. PLATE XIV 



Fig. 1.—Water Side, Showing Method of Picket and Heading Brush Protection, 

AND ON THE LEFT, PLANK PROTECTION FOR “RUNNING DIKE.” 



Fig. 2.—Land Side, Showing Layers of Brush and Ordinary Height of Interior 

Water. 

ABOIDEAL), DISCHARGE CREEK, GRAND PRE, NOVA SCOTIA, TOP 164 
FEET, BASE 55 FEET, HEIGHT 45 FEET. SLUICE BEGINNING TO 
PLAY, OCTOBER 22, 1910. 


























* 









































































































Fip. 2I*-Cross sections of dikes. Nova Scotia. 


THE NORRIS PETERS CO . 


INCTON, O C 




























































































91 


country began to throw out embankments and wrest the marshes from 
the sea. Their English successors have steadily extended the work 
and to-day the serpentine embankments following up both sides of 
the tidal streams or the “ aboideaux ” 1 boldly projected across the 
rivers can be seen throughout the Bay of Fundy marshes. 

Since the marshes generally have been built up to about ordinary 
high-water mark, the dikes, or the “ running dike,’’’ as termed in 
Nova Scotia, are usually no higher than those in the North Atlantic 
States—from 4 to 10 feet. 

Three cross sections of dikes are shown in figure 21-A, B, and C, 
and the approximate cross section of a medium height aboideau in 
figure 21-D. The purpose of the brush is partially to afford a foot¬ 
ing for teams, and it is used in alternate layers, great care being taken 
that none shall extend completely through the aboideau, as this al¬ 
lows water to seep through and create leaks. 

The highest aboideau in the maritime provinces is across Discharge 
Creek, near Grand Pre, Nova Scotia. The water side and the land 
side of this aboideau are shown in Plate XIV, figures 1 and 2. Fig¬ 
ure 1 clearly shows the method of picket and heading-brush protec¬ 
tion, and beyond is seen the plank protection for the “ running dike.” 
This aboideau was built in 1871, costing $5,000. It is 16J feet wide 
on top, about 55 feet in thickness at the bottom, and 45 feet high, a 
mass wholly of mud and brush. 

The art of combining and placing these two materials in a manner 
to exclude water and to close the deep, swift tidal streams is not 
easily acquired, and there are few men in the Provinces who can do 
the work successfully. However, when well done, the work lasts for 
generations with only moderate expenditure for repairs. In places 
the “ running dike ” is sometimes protected by a low palisade and in 
exceptionally exposed locations, though not often, by riprap. 

The methods of construction are essentially primitive. Material 
is taken from both sides of the dike, and, while formerly deposited 
by hand or wheelbarrow, it is said that scoops and teams have grown 
in favor, especially where the work is of considerable magnitude. The 
dikes are built to no established heights, grades, or widths, and are 
so little above the level of spring tides as to be occasionally over¬ 
topped. 

The average dike contains from 85 to 45 cubic yards of material 
per rod, and a quarter of a century ago with labor commanding about 
one-half the price paid to-day could be built for about 15 cents per 
cubic yard. Labor now is $1.50 for 10 hours, and it is probable that 


i A word introduced by the Acadians from Saintonge, France, where it is still used in 
the form “ aboteau.” While originally it may have referred to the sluice or water 
box, the term as now used in the Provinces refers to tue entire structure, dike and 
sluice, which extends across and closes a tidal stream or channel. 


[Bull. 240] 






92 


dikes cost 25 to 30 cents per cubic yard in place. The plank protec¬ 
tion costs about $7.50 per rod. So far as known no dikes have been 
built in the Provinces by dredge. 

SLUICES. 

There is no observable rule as to the grade or size of sluices. They 
are set at such elevation as the topographical conditions of the marsh 
demand and are made of such size as meets the ideas of the builder 
unaided, usually, by engineering advice. 

They are very small, but the conditions under which they operate 
do not require large sluices, and furnish no criterion for practice in 
the United States. Both marshes and sluices are so high that even 
spring tides in the average case will fall below the level of the in¬ 
terior water in 1 or 2 hours, permitting the sluice to play 8 to 10 
hours, and it is probable that in many instances neap tides do not 
reach sufficiently high to close the gates at all. 

The Wickwire dike at Wolfville, Nova Scotia, has roughly 133 
acres of drainage area for each square foot of sluice opening; the 
Wellington aboideau at Lower Canard, Nova Scotia, has 350 acres for 
each square foot, and the Aulac aboideau at Aulac Station, New 
Brunswick, has 282 acres for each square foot. 

The sluices are generally made of native spruce, birch frequently 
being used in the gates. In many of the later constructions, gates, 
seats, and frames of bronze are being used, and are said to give excel¬ 
lent satisfaction, as they can not be gnawed, are very durable, and 
the carefully ground seats permit little leakage. 

Arthur A. Hicks, of Upper Sackville, New Brunswick, has built 
a number of sluices equipped with a very simple and effective device 
for preventing sluice leakage. (See PI. XY, fig. 1.) Mr. Hicks 
takes a strip of horseshoe iron about one-fourth inch thick and 1J 
inches wide and draws down one edge so that the iron has a wedge- 
shaped cross section with a base of one-fourth of an inch and an alti¬ 
tude of 1J inches. The strip is then fashioned into a square or rectan¬ 
gular shape of such size that when the one-fourth-inch base is placed 
on the inside face of the gate the sharp edge of the wedge will coincide 
with the center line of the top, bottom, and side timbers of the sluice 
at the face against which the gate closes. At frequent intervals five- 
eighth-inch bolts are welded and riveted to the base, the free end 
of the bolt having a thread, washer, and nut. The bolts extend com¬ 
pletely through the gate, and the nuts on the outer face draw the 
quarter-inch base tightly against or into the inner face. A V-shaped 
groove is then burned or chiseled in the end of the sluice along the 
lines which the wedge edge has scarred—that is, along the center 
line of top, bottom, and sides. The heavy strap hinges have an 

[Bull. 240] 


Plate XV. 


U. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240, Office Expt. Stations. Drainage Investigations. 



Fig. 1.—Sluice Under Construction and Device by Arthur A. Hicks, Upper Sack- 
ville, New Brunswick, for Sealing the Seat and Preventing Leakage. 

[Iron for a larger gate leans against sluice, and a diking spade rests on top.] 



Fig. 2.—Tantramar River, New Brunswick, at Half Tide, Showing Foreshore, 
“Running Dike,” and Hay Barns in the Distance. 

[Seventy years ago forded at low tide and now crossed by bridge of 3 spans of 125 feet each, 

October 31, 1910.] 

















93 


elongated eye, permitting the gate to adjust itself to its seat. These 
gates are said to form a most effectual seal, and cut off practically all 
leakage. 

Gates are generally placed from 2 to 5 feet from the outer end to 
prevent injury or interference from ice, and the top and sides of the 
flume at this point recessed or enlarged, affording a clear, unob¬ 
structed waterway when the gate is opened to the horizontal position. 
In some cases two separate and independent gates, one in front of the 
other, are placed in the same flume. 

Notwithstanding the high pressure to which many of the sluice 
gates are subjected, it is generally to be observed that, as regards 
leakage, the sluices of the maritime Provinces are much more effec¬ 
tive than are ours on the reclaimed salt marshes of the United States. 
Moreover, any considerable leakage there, where the waters are so 
heavily charged with sediment, would quickly silt up and destroy 
the interior drainage channels, and for this reason sluices must be 
made tight. 

DITCHES. 

One looks almost in vain for examples of deep systematic ditching 
for the removal of fresh water from the reclaimed marshes. The 
tides are below the level of the lands so much of the time and sluices 
play for such long periods that a fair degree of drainage becomes a 
simple problem and is readily secured through the natural depres¬ 
sions, sloughs, and water courses. 

The lands are often gridironed by small ditches 12 to 15 inches 
deep and from 40 to 60 feet apart, and at other places the land has 
been plowed so as to raise slightly the centers of contiguous fields, 
leaving a dead furrow between. The object sought in both instances 
is to prevent surface water from standing on the land, rather than 
secure deep effective land drainage. Much greater success would be 
attained, beyond doubt, by more careful attention to the ditching. 

Prof. W. W. Andrews of Mount Allison College, Sackville, New 
Brunswick, who is an owner and experimenter in the diked lands, 
says in a letter dated November 30, 1910: 

I have found that the great evil in these lands is the lack of adequate drain¬ 
age. All the poor land I have found is sour and contains considerable quanti¬ 
ties of ferrous salts, especially the sulphate and silicate. Underdraining seems 
to be more effective than the ordinary open drain for well-understood reasons. 
I have used lime at the rate of 3 to 6 casks per acre to correct acidity, and have 
used basic slag phosphate and potassium chlorid, but no nitrate, as fertilizers. 
These have been thoroughly adequate. 

BOGS AND WARPING. 

Emptying into Cumberland Basin at the head of the bay and near 
the boundary line between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are 

[Bull. 240] 


94 


several tidal rivers, already mentioned, extending back into the coun¬ 
try from 10 to 20 miles. Above the reach of the tide, the marsh 
merges into extensive areas of fresh-water bog, from 1 to 7 feet in 
depth, and literally afloat. 

The formation of these bogs will readily be understood if the 
previous discussions of tidal hydraulics and deposits are recalled. 
The marsh builds fastest and highest along the banks of a river. At 
tide head, where the ascending salt water may be said to meet the 
descending fresh water, there is always a tendency for a river to dam 
itself, and such would be the case except for the scouring action of 
fresh water as the tide ebbs. Moreover, the gradual subsidence of the 
whole marsh country, together with the building of successive tide 
heads through eons of time, has assisted in the creation of large de¬ 
pressed areas adjacent to the uplands, at the heads of rivers, and even 
between rivers in the same watershed. 

These depressed areas, through accumulation of rain water and 
drainage from the uplands, become the sites of shallow lakes, which 
develop a fresh-water vegetation, consisting mainly of sedges, which 
overspread the surface and give rise to the formation of true bog. 
As the age of the bog increases, various mosses, such as Sphagnum 
and other forms of vegetation, come in until there is formed a float¬ 
ing mat from 1 to 4 feet thick, often sufficiently firm to sustain the 
weight of a man. In still older bog the decomposition of this vege¬ 
table mass has produced sufficient soil so that coarse grasses and 
heath bushes take root, and even larches upward of 20 to 30 feet 
in height are found. 

Beneath the bog formation everywhere is found the true tidal mud, 
blue near the top and red below, and sloping gradually downward 
from tide head to the remote upper parts of the marsh. Bogs are, 
of course, due to poor drainage, and moreover they have a constant 
tendency to extend seaward, and thus encroach upon and injure 
reclaimed areas near the rivers and toward the bay. 

The French in all their reclamation work had merely diked where 
the land had already been made up b}^ tidal deposit, and it remained 
for one, Toler Thompson, a farmer of Upper Sackville, who, after 
long study of the tides and bog levels, about 1815, began to build a 
canal from the Tantramar River to Rush Lake, a distance of 24 
miles, for the purpose of draining off the fresh water and allowing 
the tide to enter and, by deposit, to build up the bog. His experi¬ 
ment was entirely successful, a large area of fine English marsh being 
made up, but the canal was aboideaued, and in the course of years the 
lands deteriorated. 

The effects of Thompson’s experiment were far-reaching, how¬ 
ever, and the system he inaugurated, which in the Provinces is called 

[Bull. 240] 


95 


“ tiding ” or “ flooding," and is substantially the English “ warping,” 
has been steadily employed since and has resulted in the creation of 
thousands of acres of extraordinarily fine land. 

When the fresh water is removed from a bog the vegetation shrinks 
to a small fraction of its original bulk, and most of it is instantly 
killed by the salt water, probably due to the plasmolysis of the root 
hairs and possibly to some poisonous action of the salt itself. The 
tides are allowed to flood the bog until the deposit of new mud be¬ 
comes firm and of sufficient depth so that deep plowing will not 
turn up the bog vegetation. It is said that some of the most produc¬ 
tive lands around Sackville are old lake or river bottoms which 
have been filled to a depth of 20 and even 30 feet. The tides are 
then diked out, the land is ditched, and small sluices are placed in 
the lateral ditches, for it is the opinion and belief of experienced 
marsh men about the great Amherst-Sackville marshes and bogs 
that the main streams or canals should not be aboideaued, but every 
facility afforded the tides to flood the rivers so that an adequate tidal 
scour may be created to prevent silting or damming up of the out¬ 
falls, with consequent interference with drainage and deterioration 
of the lands. 

In this contention the Bay of Fundy marshmen point to the well- 
established principle in river and harbor work throughout the 
world, that of concentrating the flow and securing free rush of the 
tide up and of the freshet down. 

The effects of aboideauing these swift tidal streams are shown in 
the cases of the Aulac and the Tantramar Rivers. In 1827 the Aulac 
was aboideaued 4 miles from its mouth, and again in 1840 about 
2 miles below. In 1863 an aboideau having four openings, each 4 
feet square, was built at a cost of $27,500, and since then a new sluice 
having four openings, each 3J feet square, has been put in, over 
which cross a highway and the tracks of the Intercolonial Railway. 
This river has grown steadily smaller; the upper reaches, practically 
abandoned, have reverted to lake, bog, or poorly drained marsh, and 
even the adjacent uplands have depreciated. 

On the other hand, the Tantramar was never aboideaued, and has 
not only kept its own channel scoured out, but has greatly increased 
its size (see PI. XV, fig. 2) and thousands of acres of worthless bog 
and lake have been made into productive land with corresponding 
benefit to contiguous upland farms. The largest and most system¬ 
atic attempt at bog reclamation has been on the Misseguash River, 
the boundary between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and 
having a lake, bog, and marsh area aggregating 8,300 acres. The 
Misseguash Marsh Co., composed of Boston and Dominion capital¬ 
ists, acquired control of about 7,000 acres of this land, and on July 
1, 1897, commenced the dredging of a canal from Mount Whatley, 

[Bull. 240] 


96 


about 3 miles above the mouth of the river, to Hacmatack Lake, a 
distance of 6 miles. This canal was 30 feet wide, 15 feet deep, and 
had a uniform grade of 2 feet to the mile. From the levels of this 
company, taking the surface of the marsh at the mouth of the river 
as a datum, it appears that the surface of the bog, 10 miles above, is 
3 feet above datum, and the bottom of the lakes and bog from 3 to 
6 feet below datum, over which, when the fresh water was drawn off, 
spring tides would place from 7 to 10 feet of salt water. 

The effect of this canal was to cause a rapid enlargement of the 
river below and enlargement of the canal itself, commencing at 
its outlet and working back. Where at its mouth the canal was 
originally 30 to 36 feet wide, in a few years it had become 100 feet 
wide. The drainage area above, estimated at 40 square miles, is 
bringing down a large amount of fresh water, so that the deposit of 
tidal mud over the land has not been up to the present all that might 
be desired. The company has recently (February, 1911) fitted up 
a power-driven machine for opening up the channels and assisting 
the processes of nature. This machine consists of a skeleton drum, 
9 feet long and 2 feet in diameter, carrying about 40 knives. Power 
is furnished by a 20-horsepower gasoline engine and is transmitted by 
sprocket wheels and a chain drive. The whole is mounted on a scow, 
the drum being attached by pivoted arms so that it can be raised or 
lowered as required. The machine is said to have cost $1,000 and to 
be very effective in freeing the channels of sedges and salt grasses. 
The machine is shown in Plate XVI, figure 1, and a view of the 
extensive hay fields of the Misseguash marsh appears on the same 
plate.as figure 2. 

The entire cost of the reclamation to the stockholders to the present 
time is but $14 per acre. 

During and after the deposit of tidal mud a new and varied vegeta¬ 
tion springs up on the reclaimed bogs. At first the sedges come in, 
followed by samphire, but as drainage becomes more perfect and the 
soil becomes freshened these inferior forms are replaced by others, 
such as fox grass, broad leaf, and brown top, which in turn go down 
as an optimum is approached favorable to couch and timothy, which 
come in naturally and spontaneously in from three to five years. 
Timothy stands as the last of the succession, and under favorable 
drainage conditions holds its own indefinitely against all competition, 
weeds or any woedy growths being unable to gain a foothold. When 
drainage becomes defective brown top comes in, and that in turn- 
gives way to broad leaf. 

CROPS AND THEIR VALUE. 

The principal crop is hay. The soil, the climate, the incomplete¬ 
ness of the drainage attained, and the economic conditions all favor 

[Bull. 240] 


-i 


U. S. Dept, of Agr., Bui. 240, Office Expt. Stations. Drainage Investigations. 


Plate XVI. 



Fig. 1 .-Power-Driven Machine for Freeing Channels of Sedges and Salt 
Grasses, Misseguash Marsh, New Brunswick. 



Fig. 2.—Haying on Warped Fresh-Water Bogs, Upper Reaches of Misseguash 

River, New Brunswick. 























































































97 


the grasses as the most advantageous crop that can be raised, and 
although good root crops can be grown, as is evidenced by the experi¬ 
mental plats of turnips and celery on the Misseguash, conditions do 
not seem to warrant efforts in that direction. 

Timothy, red, white, mammoth, and alsike clover, blue grass, and 
couch grow luxuriantly, and for a long series of years will probably 
average 1^ to 2 tons per acre. Three tons per acre are common, and 
4 tons per acre are occasionally produced. On the other hand, if the 
drainage becomes impaired, coarser grasses come in, and the quality 
and value of the yield, if not the quantity, are diminished. The year 
1910 was one of enormous yield of hay. On November 1 good tim¬ 
othy was selling in the Nova Scotia markets for $8 to $11 per ton, 
but the price generally is $10 to $12, with extremes depending upon 
yield and demand of $8 and $14. On the above date the market price 
at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, was $8 to $8.50; at Bangor, 
Me., $15; and at Boston, Mass., $23 per ton. 

Broad leaf, which grows on newly diked lands before the salt has 
been washed out and on the poorly drained blue marshes, has consid¬ 
erable feeding value for horned cattle, but is not considered suitable 
for horses. 

No attempt is made to secure more than one crop per season. The 
best farmers break the marsh once in six or seven years, put in oats, 
from which they get an average yield of 30 to 40 bushels, worth about 
45 cents per bushel, and immediately reseed with timothy and clover. 
Other farmers do not plow oftener than every 10 or 15 years, and 
many tracts are known to have been cropped for generations without 
renovation of any kind, and without once failing to yield good crops 
of the best English grasses. 

The hay is cut between the middle and the latter part of July, and 
about September 10 thousands of cattle are turned onto the marshes 
to feed and fatten until early November or until killed off to re¬ 
plenish the beef supply. Grazing is especially prominent on the 
marshes of the Annapolis Valley, and in the southerly portion of the 
Nova Scotia Peninsula where the beef supply is quite largely native, 
and where the market is less accessible for shipments from the west¬ 
ern Provinces. Statistics of the Canadian Provinces show that 
according to acreage under cultivation the number of cattle killed in 
Nova Scotia is very high, while the export of hay, which is the prin¬ 
cipal product of the marshes, is very low; herein is one of the factors 
accounting for the high value of marsh lands and for the prominent 
place which they hold in the agricultural life of the community. 

For the u open ” or grazing season of about six weeks the rental 
charge varies from 75 cents to $2 per acre, with a usual allotment of 3 
acres for every cow, ox, or steer, and 1 to 2 acres for yearlings. 

100940°—Bull. 240—11-7 



98 


LAND VALUES. 

The value of the marsh lands, like the uplands, varies greatly, with 
their condition and situation. Good English marsh in the Annapolis 
Valley is assessed for $60 to $80 per acre, but its market value is from 
$80 to $150 per acre. On the Grand Pre values run from $100 to $200 
per acre, and it is vouched for that transfers of particularly favorable 
parcels on the Canard River diked lands have been made at $400 per 
acre. On the Amherst-Sackville marshes the values will run from $80 
to $150, but nearness to villages and good drainage may here, as else¬ 
where, send its value up to $180 or $200 per acre. 

Prof. Andrews, of Sackville, New Brunswick, referring to crop 
yields in his letter of November 30, 1910, says: 

Land which three years ago I bought at the rate of $15 per acre yielded me 
a crop of hay which was sold standing at a rate which paid me 5 per cent on 
a valuation of $180 per acre, and the man who bought the hay estimates that he 
paid considerably less than $4 a ton, so great was the yield. 

Upland farms, including buildings, if not far removed from villages 
and in fair condition, are worth $75 per acre for general farming 
purposes. Away from the towns values may drop to $30 or $40, and 
on the other hand, deep, loamy tracts well situated for orcharding are 
worth upward of $300 per acre. 

The value of the broad-leaf marshes drops to one-half or one- 
third of the English marshes, and the unreclaimed bog lands have 
merely a nominal value of 50 cents to $1 an acre. 

“ MARSH ACT.” 

In 1900 the Nova Scotia. Legislature enacted very complete and 
comprehensive drainage laws, known as the “ Marsh act.” 

These laws effectively provide for the organization of “ a majority 
in interest of the proprietors,” for the appointment and remunera¬ 
tion of commissioners, clerk, collector, overseers, and auditor, methods 
of procedure, execution of the work, adjustment of claims and dam¬ 
ages, apportionment of cost, issuance of debentures and the complete 
administration of the affairs of the “ body.” 

The chartered banks of Canada can not by law take mortgages on 
real estate, but it is said that through loan and trust companies and 
from individuals there is no difficulty in borrowing money on the 
marsh lands to the extent of 50 per cent on a fair valuation. 

CONCLUSION. 

The reclaimed marsh lands around the Bay of Fundy are very ex¬ 
tensive, very valuable, an important agricultural asset, and are closely 
interwoven with the industrial and economic life of the people. Not 

[Bull. 240] 


99 


only farmers, but merchants and professional men who are looking 
for good, sound 8 and 10 per cent investments believe and invest in 
these reclaimed marsh lands. 

The leading social club of the thriving city of Amherst is named 
the Marshlands Club. 

We may well ask why Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, with a 
less inviting climate, sparse population, inferior transportation facili¬ 
ties, and poorer markets, have made such pronounced success in 
marsh-reclamation work, while the great bulk of our marshes, even 
within an hour’s ride of such populous and wealthy cities as Boston, 
New York, and Philadelphia, are still in their natural state, or where 
reclaimed the successes have been few or indifferent. Unquestionably 
the fundamental reason lies in the great nature-bestowed gift of a 
large range of tide, which has built the marshes high and permits the 
sluices to play long periods of time, thus securing adequate drainage 
easily, cheaply, and certainly. There are, of course, other reasons of 
historical, physical, and economic nature which have contributed, but 
they are relatively insignificant and are more than offset by our own 
economic needs and by American energy, enterprise, and resource¬ 
fulness. 


[Bull. 240] 


o 


LB JL ’12 
















































